Social media post about Eskom surged to record numbers this week, with Twitter sentiment overwhelmingly negative.
ALSO READ | 5 NEW INTERNATIONAL ROUTES TAKING OFF IN SA BEFORE END OF 2022
South Africans are facing more than four hours of power cuts at a time because the state-owned utility can’t produce enough electricity from its old and poorly maintained plants to meet demand.
CRIME STATS | YOU’RE MOST LIKELY TO BE A HIJACKING VICTIM IN THIS PROVINCE TODAY
According to Bloomberg, as of Wednesday, they had endured 107 days in 2022 of load shedding – the worst year yet – with more pain to come.
Eskom outages have halted business
Essential services that have been disrupted include mobile and internet connectivity, and provision of water and sanitation.
ALSO READ | FUEL PRICE OCTOBER UPDATE: GOOD NEWS FOR PETROL, BAD NEWS FOR DIESEL
The outages are causing traffic snarl ups and halting business, leading to public criticism of the government.
The chart displays how many tweets about Eskom have been published in 30-minute intervals by accounts monitored by Bloomberg.
The lower part shows whether the tweets were positive or negative.
PICTURES | South Africa’s power cuts hit travel at Zimbabwe border, queues 4km long
Here are a few select tweets: