I am sure you know about André De Ruyters book "Truth to Power"? Ex CEO of Eskom.... good read for anyone in SA. think that can make things very clear.
you can say factories and businesses are down right now, but they wheren't during the rugby world cup? and many other times...... plus majority of corporate owned businesses don't shut down whole factories just to get through a day of christmas, they'll have 1 guy on stand by or the factory just pushes through. the whole world still works up to the 23rd and continues on the 27th only to take off on the 1st again for 1 day. how does that equal to a whole month without loadshedding? someone inside eskom can spin that shit and I'll smell rotten fish from miles away.
Loadshedding started in 2007 as a temporary thing to give a gap in order to "fix the problem".... It's 2024 in 6 days, that gives us 16 - 17 years of loadshedding..... it hasn't been constant/consistent for all 17 years, we've had worse times and times with no loadshedding all through out. it's not a new thing to go through fluctuations.
If it hasn't been clear as day, we're collectively too affraid to adress the problem directly, because the problem has our country in the palms of their hands and can do whatever they want right now. the problem is too big to fix, it's integrated into our society.
The actual problems has been solved, but a new problem has emerged - management.
New management doesn't have any grip on what they're doing, incompetence is running the power grid, problems of the previous mismanagement still exists, because of the current inconpetence not being able to focus on the the problem which is in itself the incompetence of the management. So they're literally just playing with the buttons.
SA is in deeeeeeeeeep financial shit, so wherever our government can funnel money they will, trying to make it seem like they're working on the problem, but in reality they steal the money and loadshedding presists. It's just an easy gimmick for the fools running the show. They don't give a single shit about loadshedding, cause they're not affected by it.
That's how it's going to be for as long as we accept the "ancestral cultural richness" of the indiginous people that refuses any form constructive criticism.