analysis
By Mark Heywood
We’re not just shedding electricity. South Africa is shedding its most valuable assets left, right and centre, and we’re going to pay the price.
The Concise Oxford English Dictionary defines load-shedding as “the interrupting of an electricity supply to avoid excessive load on the generating plant”.
The online Dictionary.com adopts a more expansive definition, describing it as “the deliberate shutdown of electric power in a part or parts of a power-distribution system, generally to prevent the failure of the entire system when the demand strains the capacity of the system.”
Both definitions refer to the act of the shedder rather than its effect on the shed. In South Africa the term has entered our parlance and become part of every person’s consciousness in a few short months.
But in contrast with its dictionary definitions, the word is felt more by its consequence. It means inconvenience and disruption. Coming from the mouths of those affected it carries a snarl of contempt. Consequently our definition might read something like this:
“A South African euphemism for electricity failures caused by poor planning by government and poor management by their national electricity utility, Eskom. Sometimes also associated with corruption.”
Now load-shedding …
