Week 11: Egoli Service Project

For our project we will be working with Egoli Electricity to provide affordable, basic electricity to the rest of the township-approximately 3/4. I am eager to work on this project which I understand addresses a pressing issue for citizens of the townships and the rest of the country as a whole. Providing electricity for those who have little to no access to other amenities within South Africa is a crucial step to bridging the gap in living conditions  and wealth in the country. I found two articles in my research that address just how serious this issue is.

Unplugged

This sums up just how the problem of insufficient electricity is affecting the country. Eskom, South Africa's leading provider of electricity, cannot keep up with the needs of the country and is restricted from making improvements because of power stations in dire need of maintenance and production of other power centers halted. The company has been forced to a system of "load shedding," which consists of inconsistently rolling blackouts across the country. Efforts to make the business model more efficient are predicted to be met with opposition and news from the leadership had the president declaring blame on apartheid-which funneled power to one race rather than the majority and left the country's electrical outlets severely unbalanced.

South Africa's Electricity Supply Infrastructure Crumbles
Apparently the few blacks that actually receive electricity don't even pay for it. According to this article, only 16% of blacks in Soweto actually pay for electricity contributed to a national buildup of debt to South Africa's power supply company, Eskom. The condition of their power stations is an even worse matter. Due to negligence, lack of maintenance and the simple, crass mistakes of ignoring employee warnings, the company's major power stations have been severely covered in ash, which is a very real problem for production. The state of these power plants leads to many electrical issues across the country, and the company uses "load shedding" to minimize on the risks of these issues. According to one source, " The fact that more incidents haven’t taken place is a miracle."