From candlelit study sessions to silent shop floorsand residents living in the dark, the prolonged electricity outage in Gqeberha is more than just an inconvenience. It is now a crisis.
Reporter Geoff Hookins and photographer Werner Hills compiled this special report.
Electricity woes threaten Walmer butchery after 32 years
After 32 years of serving the Walmer community, Sandi Holmes, owner of Westvill Deli Game and Ostrich Butchery, faces an unprecedented threat to her family business.
Ongoing electricity outages, lasting almost a week in her area and leaving residents and businesses off the rotational schedule, are forcing Holmes to scramble for ways to keep her meat frozen and her business
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Walmer fish breeder fights to save stock amid outages
Inside Ultimate Aquatics in Heugh Road, the hum of generators has become constant at night, keeping hundreds of tanks alive as tropical fish, goldfish and ornamental species depend on oxygen pumps, with the owner having to sleep at his shop to keep his business alive.
Ggeberha tropical fish breeder Chris Rautenbach said ongoing electricity outages were threatening his livelihood.
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Residents face danger and hunger during 21-day outage
Residents of the Airport Valley informal settlement in Walmer say they are living in fear of armed cable thieves who target power lines during the extended electricity outage.
Cable thieves have disrupted the already limited load reduction schedule, plunging Airport Valley into prolonged darkness.
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Private res provider pitches in as students tackle test week studies in the dark
A Summerstrand private student accommodation provider housing 13 students from across Africa said the ongoing electricity crisis has severely disrupted daily life, with students struggling to charge devices and study during their current test week.
Charis Beukes said before the rotational schedule started this week, she was forced to take all the students’ meat to a relative’s home with power to prevent it from spoiling.
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Summerstrand petrol station becomes community hub
A petrol station in Summerstrand has become an informal hub for residents affected by ongoing power outages, offering a place to charge devices, access Wi-Fi and work during the evenings.
In one case, a disabled primary school pupil relies on the station to charge his ventilator.
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Power cuts force students to study late on campus
Students at NMU say ongoing electricity outages are disrupting their studies during test week, forcing many to work late into the night at campus libraries as their residences remain dark.
With study sessions ending between 10pm and 2am, students are increasingly concerned about their safety when travelling home at night, citing reports of muggings and unsettling experiences with e-hailing services that leave them feeling vulnerable.
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