While most South Africans are unhappy with the severe amounts of load-shedding the country has been having, students are facing their own set of challenges as the power outages continue. A student union has called for more to be done in terms of finding a solution to the electricity problem, as it prohibits students from successfully completing their academic work.
A spokesperson for the South African Union of Students (SAUS), Asive Dlanjwa, called out President Cyril Ramaphosa to remove Eskom CEO André de Ruyter and Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan for the lack of change they have brought about regarding the debilitating electricity crisis South African citizens are currently battling, particularly students.
In the interview, Dlanjwa was asked about the impact of load-shedding on South African students which lead to his statement calling for the stepping down of de Ruyter and Gordhan.
Dlanjwa said the call to remove de Ruyter and Gordhan from the positions they hold was “realistic and substantive”.
The discussion comes after Dlanjwa elaborated on the various challenges students are facing when it comes to completing their academic work during power outages. The spokesperson went on to explain how students, particularly those from rural backgrounds, are the ones the SAUS is most concerned about.
“The reality of the matter is that for the students coming from particular rural areas and townships, electricity in those places sometimes (irrespective of the stage) goes up from six to eight hours. This has been absolutely devastating for them for many reasons. The first one is that they’re not able to charge their devices because electricity can literally be gone for the whole better part of the day; secondly, as long as there’s no power, the internet connection is compromised, [and as a matter of fact] they are not able to participate in online activities and online assessments for those that are participating through online mediums.”
He elaborated further, saying the “ridiculous” and “huge” increase in paraffin prices are unaffordable for students, and because of the lack of electricity, some can’t keep themselves warm, make their meals for the day, or study during the night.
A lot of students are actually in the process of completing their mid-year exams and the hours-long stages of load-shedding create an added pressure. Dlanjwa gave credit to universities that have tried to help their students, saying institutions have done relatively well in terms of being able to have power through generators at the very least during exam periods.
However, this isn’t accommodating each and every university student, only the ones residing in student residences. Those living in private student accommodations or having classes from home are left to deal with the heavy and long power outages on their own, as best as they can.
The spokesperson continued, expressing how the Minister of Enterprises and Eskom CEO have done very little to turn the situation around. “There is absolutely nothing material and substantive they have done to bring around [change]; if anything, the utility is probably at its worst, as far as providing energy is concerned.”
Although the worker strike Eskom says the cause of the severe power outages has been resolved, that does not guarantee an immediate end to the load-shedding.
The last resort would be to incite mass mobilization, said Dlanjwa, if President Ramaphosa fails to respond to their “reasonable” calls.