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Christmas lights twinkle, holiday music plays and Johannesburg’s popular Rosebank mall bustles with shoppers.
Then the lights go out. The shops are pitch dark. “Hold on to your wallets,” calls out a customer to rueful chuckles.
A long minute later the distant hum of a generator can be heard. The lights and music flicker back on and clerks resume ringing up purchases.
South Africa’s Christmas 2022 is a start/stop affair, with the country’s nationwide power cuts hitting just about every aspect of the holiday. Businesses and families are coping with rolling outages of electricity totaling seven to 10 hours per day.
The chugging of diesel generators can be heard at stores and restaurants from posh areas to townships. Patrons know to walk far around them to avoid the noxious fumes.
The festive calendar of celebrations with family and friends is now a meticulous dance around the daily schedule of power cuts. Holiday baking and video streaming are planned for when there will be power.
Most South African households now have a ready supply of solar lights, kerosene lamps and candles to keep from being in total darkness.
