News from the Cape and Weekly Offers

We hope you are healthy and your week is going according to plan.

Everything in the Southern Hemisphere is indeed running smoothly, although the electricity supply is a bit different from yours in Central Europe and can change unexpectedly. What we're referring to is “loadshedding”, a specialty of the power provider at the Cape. This term describes a sophisticated system where electricity is turned off in a rotating manner.

This situation is likely due to the efficiently planned emptying of the state coffers by the political elite following the Mandela era, with poorly talented managers occupying decision-making positions. Since 2008, there simply hasn’t been enough electricity at the Cape.

Of course, this situation does little to promote the much-anticipated economic recovery of the country, but good things take time, and ultimately each clan must first ensure its own survival.

In managing this scarcity, the country, which is the seventh largest coal producer in the world, is quite customer-oriented. Through an app, consumers are timely informed about planned outages, allowing them to plan whether there will be a hot dinner tomorrow or if the kitchen will remain cold.

“Loadshedding” comes in eight escalation levels, from Level 1, where electricity is cut off three times for two hours within four days, to Level 8, where one can expect to be without power 12 times for four hours each within four days. Just last week, we experienced levels two, three, and four, but currently, there’s pride in announcing that there is electricity 24 hours a day.

For those thinking that this impacts quality of life or drives South Africans crazy, let it be known that this is not the case. Nothing takes away their joy of life, not even Eskom. “We make a plan” is a commonly used saying here, and that’s exactly how they handle it. Life goes on, and eventually, the power will return.

As a traveler, you will hardly be affected by this rather unfunny practice. The people you encounter are already accustomed to it and have made their plans accordingly, just as we have.

Next week, we will reach out with a new topic. In the meantime, we encourage you to check your wine stocks and create a shopping plan, also utilizing local unsorted offers.

With a total of four containers in transit, "wineshedding" is expected to be a rare occurrence by the end of the year.