South Africans Are Going Green to Escape Incessant Power Cuts

The Tingala lodge is about a six-hour drive northeast of Johannesburg, where the savanna is dotted with dense clusters of trees and shrubs. Located in a nature conservancy, the lodge is popular with visitors looking to tour nearby Kruger National Park. But unrelenting energy cuts have made running the business a continual challenge. “When the power goes off, the toilets don’t work, the showers don’t work and that is a major interruption,” said 80-year-old owner Tom Joubert.

South Africa has experienced intermittent power cuts, known locally as load shedding, since 2008, but outages this year have escalated to the point where they stall factory operations, disrupt life and snarl traffic for extended periods on almost a daily basis.