On a late Thursday afternoon last November, in the midst of rolling blackouts implemented by South Africa’s state-owned electricity company, a contractor at a power station in the eastern Mpumalanga province pulled a plug connected to one of the site’s main generation units. The unit subsequently broke down, ensuring yet another day of nationwide outages.
Eskom has had to defend itself against armed robbery, fuel theft, sabotage and corruption – all of which are increasing the risk of a complete power outage.