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Stage 6 load shedding costs South Africa over R4 billion a day: economist. Alexforbes chief economist Isaah Mhlanga says Eskom's prolonged stage 6 load shedding has already caused significant damage to the country's economy, with over R4 billion wiped from the GDP for each day it continues.

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101 Days This Year Thus Far And Still Counting

Today the most valued home appliance is your generator as we are on day 101 of load shedding this year. Everyone is feeling it right now as when you drive around the traffic lights the first signs are the traffic lights being out of action. The butchers I went to this morning was closed as their generator had packed up. Everyone is taking strain and this is so unfair as it doesn't have to be like this. Generators are back up power for when you need it and not to be used for multiple times a day every day as they will need maintenance soon.

I was back home just in time to turn our generator on for our second load shedding of the day as I don't turn the generator on for the 2am -4.30am shift. The key turned, but turned a full 360 degrees which is not a good sign when you should be hearing the brrrrr at that point. Time to panic as this was our second generator this year and had a sinking feeling.

I managed to get it in the back of the car and whisked it off to the place where it was purchased. The moron at the back of the shop said he would book it in and I was in no mood for jokes as this was Friday lunchtime meaning no back up plan for the entire weekend. He soon realised I was not joking and would like it seen to immediately and called a technician.

Long story short is the nut that holds the starter/ignition switch was cracked and why the key would not bite as the insides were now loose. It is always the case as the cheapest part on the generator had failed with the culprit being a plastic metal looking nut. Apparently this is so common that they have no spares left of that part. He found a replacement however off another customers machine and in less than 5 minutes my beloved generator was purring like a tame kitty cat. Ok Maybe not like a kitty cat, but a tractor as more importantly it was working meaning the weekend is back to a normalish status.

What amazes me is why do the buyers cut corners on parts they shouldn't? Cost saving on a part that is less than 5c is stupidity at the highest level. We used to see it all too often when buying items from the east. The spec you select is altered by the factory as that is how they make profit. This is something we have learned over time that any item older than 18 months still being ordered regularly needs a closer inspection with the original specs.

I can recall one home gym that arrived in the show room and if you pulled on the weights the frame would bend slightly. This was at the time when the metal price had increased so the factory decided to cut costs on the frame hoping no one would notice. Now imagine a bicycle frame or a set of handlebars with cost cutting in mind as it is bloody dangerous. I am not saying the same thing happened with the generator as this plastic metal look alike nut is on the outside and is obvious so should have been picked up or that is the buyers spec. The technician said you cannot use pliers to tighten it as it cracks it so one has to treat it with a little love knowing it will break again very soon.

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A BMW assembly plant already uses cow manure mixed with waste paper, old yoghurt, fruit juice and abattoir waste to create a volatile methane gas that runs turbines creating power.

Companies are being forced off the grid and actually this load shedding is helping them in an around about way. South Afrin Breweries is going to use cow manure waste mixed with other waste materials to create their own power from the gases. This is 100% renewable energy along with the use of solar reducing their carbon emissions by 25%. Just imagine a herd of 50000 Cows firing up a brewery. Many other companies are covering their properties with solar and are not gambling on the government to fix this mess anytime soon.

I have said in a previous post I would go solar as the costs saved and hassle free for around $12K, but I am not staying around long enough to benefit. The plan is to get the hell out as this is going to get far worse before things are fixed. Having a manufacturing business this is unsustainable as the constant machine break downs due to power outages is way too costly along with missed production.

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