As a South African (living abroad for many years, but still with the bulk of my extended family there), this seems overly alarmist. If you review https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_energy_crisis , very few consumers experienced anything like 50% of total hours without electricity even in the darkest days of the load-shedding in 2023. And 2024 was, comparatively, a good year, probably the best since 2020/1.
RE the police force and private security, that has been a fact of life in South Africa for decades, not a new development. Anyone with the means employs private security, in the same way that anyone with means utilizes private health care, not public health care. Here South Africa is not that much different from other high-crime and high-inequality countries like Brazil and Mexico.
Mail me at (redacted) and I provide his contact address. You may want to give him some tips.
To be honest I may have exaggerated the power outage ratio, as I am not a first-hand observer; but I tend to give some credibility to his description of the living situation over there, esp. as they want to move.
My point is more or less that denying things, even if not fully true, strengthens demagogues like Trump instead of weakening them.
If you're around 75 years of age, and you're living in a quite comfortable, but increasingly problematic accommodation, it's not too easy to move. Right now we're looking for a place for him and his fiancee. Living and housing costs over here are quite heavy.
It has been "unflagged" now / update: flagged again. Reason for posting this is that I think quite a few people in the US will have similar stories, which will be shared between the general population. And by denying this, Trump will gain more credibility.
I know this will now be flagged into oblivion.
I don't like politics-related posts here not only because of this. But if some aspect is mentioned, I still like to post some substance instead of just letting it be.
RE the police force and private security, that has been a fact of life in South Africa for decades, not a new development. Anyone with the means employs private security, in the same way that anyone with means utilizes private health care, not public health care. Here South Africa is not that much different from other high-crime and high-inequality countries like Brazil and Mexico.