South Africans threaten to withhold votes after load-shedding announcement

By Cebelihle Bhengu - 15 March 2019

Twitter users are outraged by Eskom's announcement of power cuts.
Image: beercrafter / 123RF Stock Photo

Just as South Africans were getting use to stage 1 load-shedding on Thursday morning, power utility Eskom announced later in the day that stage 2 was on the cards.

In a statement, Eskom attributed the power cuts to plant breakdowns. Stage 2 allows for 2,000MW of electricity to be shed rotationally from the national grid.

Following Eskom's latest announcement, South Africans have threatened to withdraw their votes from the May 8 elections.

I feel like our campaigning political parties are not doing enough to explain exactly *how* they're planning to fix electricity. I'm no economist but it feels to me like electricity might be the most urgent of all of the urgent things. #loadshedding
— sharon bezuidenhout (@shazzala) March 15, 2019

Maximum battery saving mode.
I wish I could remove the Call, Messages and Chrome icons as I don't use them at all on my phone. #LoadShedding pic.twitter.com/WOScACqC98
— Shingi (@Ethnochoreology) March 15, 2019

Eskom and Vodacom are in cahoots once #LoadShedding hits network is gone ?
— Moonlight♉️♀️ (@lebomathekga1) March 15, 2019

It seems that @MYANC is implementing those valuable lessons learned in Venezuela #Loadshedding
— Mark Davel (@markdavel) March 15, 2019

How can any rationale person vote ANC, for one, loadshedding #LoadShedding @Eskom_SA @MYANC
— arno rice (@ArnoRice) March 15, 2019

Shopping by cell phone light.
The New Dawn is here but it is still dark #loadshedding pic.twitter.com/dPlWJ7Bb3e
— ratrap (@ratrap1) March 15, 2019

#loadshedding highkey feels like a national hostage situation
— black, one sugar (@malik_radebe) March 15, 2019

It's hard to remain positive when you have no power, students are burning tyres in the streets and politically connected thieves are still high on part lists... #Loadshedding
— Dave (@Damin_za) March 15, 2019

In February, the power utility implemented power cuts up to stage four in less than a week after it said generators had tripped.

Click here for Nelson Mandela Bay's load-shedding schedule and domestic groups:

Nelson Mandela Bay load-shedding schedules