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Top 10 comments on Eskom and serious introspection

Cape Town – It was yet another big news week for South Africa’s ailing power supplier Eskom, which usually attracts lively commentary from the Fin24 user community, but other issues also stimulated healthy debate, including the impact of the xenophobic attacks in Durban on the economy and a strong opinion piece titled: “Am I a racist?”

Eskom shocked SA earlier this week after an announcement that it would initiate stage 3 load shedding. As is usually the case after distressing news, users expressed humorous hysteria, exemplified in this Reuters article: South Africans learn to laugh at load shedding. However, not all commentators saw the humour in load shedding.

The news that Eskom has confirmed that its stage allocation would be altered to include stage 4 load shedding, also elevated the humour stage, with user Siener Van Rensburg commenting: "Before 2017, Eskom will have more stages than the tour de france (sic).”

Below is the third weekly dose of top ten Fin24 user comments selected for their wit, value-add to the topic at hand and contribution to healthy debate in a country so much in need of constructive dialogue.

Top ten users comments on:

Eskom takes load shedding to the next level:

1. Chris Browne – I would like to know why we are getting load shedding - it was all fine last week and suddenly jumps to Stage 2 and now Stage 3 (although Eskom's web site is saying Stage 2) - I think Eskom needs to tell us which generation units are currently out of service and why and keep this information updated. The same generic reply ... is just not good enough - READ STORY

Why Eskom plunged SA into stage 3 load shedding:

2. Janice de Vos - Well small businesses will have to let staff go as they are going to be losing more money than making it. We are still expected to pay the bill for electricity every month and staff wages in full even though we are losing 4 hours work and money per day. Well done Eskom - who else needs a million rand bonus for such a wonderful service? - READ STORY

South Africans learn to laugh at load shedding:

3. Lynden Fysh - Nothing funny about this at all! Don't patronize us when we all know the failure of our government has caused us to spiral into this catastrophic situation - READ STORY

4. Andre van Schalkwyk - I am not laughing and to have it suggested to me in any manner that we as South Africans should be laughing about it is an insult to me and I hope everyone who reads this article and my comment. How can you laugh while your country is destroyed and the livelihood of people impeached? This is a serious matter and should be dealt with as such!

Also, I have seen the advert on TV that is referred to in this article and find it highly offensive. Though it is only my opinion, I do not appreciate having the serious issues that the country I live in made a joke of in front of an international audience and in this manner have myself seen as a person living in a country that must be laughed at because it is the only way they can deal with issues.

I choose to stay in South Africa as it is my country of birth and I want to be proud of this choice. Not shamed in front of an international audience for its failures and most likely every ex-South African who left the country - READ STORY

5. Baloo Rottie - Friends of ours have adopted a dog that only has black hair. They've named him "Escom" (sic). - READ STORY

Xenophobic attacks will hurt foreign investor confidence - economist:

6. Kagiso Tshweu - I doubt, unless if spazas also fall within the definition of foreign direct investment. Big corporations in SA are not really affected still ample of investment opportunities here for formal businesses. Investing in a country is all about calculating or evaluating the risk, I don't think attacks on spaza shops will be so significant that the foreign direct confidence diminishes. - READ STORY

7. Enock Chifamba - Lawlessness affects investor confidence. It doesn't give a good impression about the future and creates an atmosphere of unpredictability, we here in Zimbabwe know this very well. Government failure to protect the victims combined with the racial tension makes people sceptical about this country's future - READ MORE

Am I a racist?

8. Paul Roberts - South Africa - all the possibility? We are so obsessed as we have been all the years with skin colour that in our liberation we are unable to see the incredible opportunity out there. The government also seems to be incapable of leading - no one is accountable and as long as few are milking the system and riding the gravy train no one cares. Racism is being perpetuated by the frustration of those knowing what to do and those clinging to power and enriching themselves. - READ MORE

9. Ipeleng Onneile Mabusela - No one wants a corrupt government or an embarrassing president. No one wants to live in a country that is divided by race. However, we are one of the most unequal countries in the world and our history is a major contributor to that fact.

No one wants to be in continuous cycle of poverty as this affects the schools you attend and therefore directly affects your chance at a better life. And despite all the hardship, taking loans to pay for university and finding a decent job and excelling, you still sit in a boardroom where you are ignored as they engage your less qualified and less experienced colleague in Afrikaans.

This is the reality today that a black professional must still face. So no, you are not racist for wanting a better country for all of us, but appreciate that for most of this country success is a long and difficult journey and that frustration with being born into poverty is not unreasonable. - READ MORE

10. SimonC1969 - Racism means you hate a person(s) only due to their skin colour...full stop. Me hating taxi drivers has bugger all to do with their colour. I hate them as they nearly kill me or smash my car up on a daily basis. I could care less if they were white, pink or blue. I don't have much time for the mostly white tow truck drivers due to their reckless driving.

Similarly I am not against the looters or the statue people because of their colour. I am against them for their seeming love for violence and killing of fellow human beings. The statue crowd for desperately trying to remodel history by removing inanimate objects rather than concentrating on studying, becoming great people and making a new vibrant awesome history for the country.

As it stands looking back up to 1994 a lot of things happened. Some good some bad. Mostly development of the country. Rail, roads, education, business, healthcare. Looking back at post 1994, there isn't a hell of a lot to shout about. World Cup... yep that's about it. Oh and statue-gate and the killing of foreigners. Not the best start for a new history. - READ MORE

Disclaimer: All letters and comments published in MyFin24 have been independently written by members of the Fin24 community. The views are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent those of Fin24.

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