It strikes me as unfair to lay the entire blame for the recent countrywide collapse of electricity supply at the door of our government alone. Most of us are guilty of not conserving energy in our own small ways and thereby contributing to the excessive burden carried by Eskom. 

As individual citizens, we have little influence over the ways to end Eskom’s monopoly by privatisation and deregulation of the energy market.

However, there is something each of us can do to stave off those dreaded electricity rations. 

Of course, the easiest way to conserve energy is to turn off the lights when you leave the room. It is also the cheapest way; it will save you money on your next energy bill. And it will also help save the environment. A 200 watt light bulb uses one kilowatt (1 thousand watts) of electricity in 5 hours. A coal burning power plant produces over 3 kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions just to run that light bulb for 5 hours. That is over one kilogram in two hours! 

So called “phantom loads” are appliances that drain electricity 24 hours even while on standby, such as TVs, CD players, DVD players, alarm clocks, microwaves and computers. Almost all remote control equipped appliances draw between 1 and 8 watts an hour even when they are off. Turning these appliances off at the mains when we are not using them can conserve as much as two and a half kilowatts off electricity a day. 

The key to energy conservation is education awareness. Like many aspects of our nation’s life, awareness begins in the families and in schools. It is up to the parents and teachers to inculcate the virtues of energy conservation in their young charges from an early age. It is something these children will be grateful for when they, one day, run their own households and raise their own families.

Dr Lionel Mtshali

Leader of the Official Opposition 

Contact: Dr Lionel Mtshali, 083 256 4902