Cape Town – From Western Cape premier Helen Zille being caught in a lift, to the fear of having the power go out half way through a hair cut, load shedding deals surprising blows to people when they least expect it.
Read: Why we have stage 3 load shedding (and links to how you can keep informed).
Zille tweeted that she was on her way to a TV interview when load shedding caused power to the lift to stop. She said it was “damn hot in this lift without [air conditioning]” but managed to find a bright side in the “nice view”.
Zille was stuck in the lift for less than 20 minutes. “Ok out now. Third time I [have] been stuck in a lift. Much less scary than you would expect ,especially if you are with [people] with a sense of humour.”
Silondiwe tweeted that she was at the salon with her mom, then “baam. Load Shedding”. She asked: “Are we supposed to go home with wet hair?”
Traffic lights were of big concern to many South Africans, eager to get home for the weekend. Claudia Langlois Davey said on Twitter that the load shedding caused traffic jams on the South Coast. “What mayhem at the traffic lights!”
Annette Steyn said on Twitter that Pick n Pay had closed their store in Aliwal North. “So much waste.”
In Cape Town, a lift got stuck during the load shedding at the Kenilworth Centre. Rescue workers had to extract the shell-shocked shoppers.