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BBQ for Breakfast and 2-Hour Commutes

South Africa’s power blackouts have our journalists scrounging for candles and cooking outside.

A vehicle passes during a load-shedding power outage in Pretoria, South Africa. 

A vehicle passes during a load-shedding power outage in Pretoria, South Africa. 

Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg
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Fire-cooked meals, fraying tempers on gridlocked roads, an obsession with keeping devices charged, and candles. Lots of candles. As South Africans experienced a second week of blackouts, new routines set in.

I start the morning with a glance at my power-outage app to get the day’s schedule. Our Johannesburg home had no electricity for 4.5 hours every day last week, mostly starting at noon or 8 p.m. If it’s an evening-outage day we’ll either eat early or find a restaurant that has power, a generator or wood-fired oven. We avoid sushi.