An aerial view of Johannesburg City Center in South Africa, where power cuts and high data costs are putting strain on students and workers. — Photo by Jacques Nel on Unsplash: Like many students preparing for exams, Lindokuhle Mdlalose has been revising in the early hours of the morning and losing out on sleep. However, the 21-year-old's midnight study sessions are by necessity, not choice, as power cuts cripple South Africa.
Local economists estimate that power cuts is costing the country’s gross domestic product 4bil rand per day., and this inequality is also apparent in the so-called digital divide between those who are able to access the Internet and technology and those who cannot. “It’s made life incredibly difficult for the vast majority of South Africans. They can’t study and they can’t look for jobs,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.In Johannesburg’s Soweto township, Ntombikayise Setyila feels like a digital nomad, taking her laptop to work at the homes of friends who can still generate power during blackouts.“You can’t just go around everywhere with your backpack,” said the coordinator for an accountancy firm, who mainly works from home.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa last week said it was the government's priority"to stabilise the electricity system" through resolving labour strikes, boosting law enforcement, and investing in clean energy alternatives.
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