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The games people play in the dark

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Gayle Edmunds
Gayle Edmunds

The day the lights went out, South Africans with various degrees of privilege rummaged for headlamps, torches and candles.

They bought Lion matches in bulk – which are a far strike from the sturdy little firestarters of my teenage smoking years (Just how much cost-cutting has been going on there?) – and they got out a game of bingo or Scrabble. They ordered takeaways or popped to the supermarket (that had a generator) on the way home and bought a roast chicken.

It can all be transformed into a rather fun family experience once the red mist lifts.

Perhaps best of all, no electricity means no screens, which automatically brings peace to homes with screen-crazy children who aren’t so crazy about homework.

It’s still summer, so, as the light dies, we sit outside and watch the stars rise or the rain fall. It’s all rather calming in four-hour bursts.

These South Africans represent a sliver of society – I am one of them and you might well be, too.

I have a gas stove and two geysers that aren’t powered by electricity – they were installed in a desperate bid to save some money and add some certainty to shower time as the costs go up and the reliability of the service is dimmed.

Most South Africans can’t structure their day around blackouts – they have strict working hours, if they work at all.

They start and finish their day in the dark and must navigate the already treacherous roads with no street lights and no traffic lights.

They can’t just put their hands in their pockets and buy candles or go to the nearby camping shop and buy torches. They are only just (if at all) able to feed their families, pay their transport costs and keep a roof over their heads.

For these South Africans, the games they play are much more dangerous – they must struggle harder to survive in an even more hostile environment.

When the power goes off, getting home, doing homework, cooking dinner and getting the washing done become extreme sports.

One of the strangest blackout games this week was Cosatu’s pre-Valentine’s Day march for jobs, but against retrenchments.

It felt as though the lights went out of their logic. Eskom’s bloated, corrupt and inefficient structure is breaking our economy.

Without the power to do business, there is no way for jobs to be created, and retrenchments will follow.

The trade unions would be better off investing their time in renewable energy businesses rather than playing pointless political games.

We all await our finance minister’s attempt to play government’s game with the playbook he’s been given.

In the meantime, how do you spell apocalypse?

Follow me on Twitter @GayleMahala

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