I’m giving Eskom and their sneaky sun-tax the finger

Forgive me if I sound a bit like a bergie today. That’s how I am – and it will fit me sleeping in the cold and dark on the slopes of Table Mountain. God knows I really try to tame my wild hair every day and I’m a little fed up with my Portuguese baths. But I am scoffing at experts telling me that I will always need a drag-me-dry Eskom “because no one can go completely off the grid”. Seriously? You are wrong. I know: I’ve been completely off the grid for about four months now. READ ALSO: Load shedding: A step-by-step plan to ditch Eskom and go off the grid…

Forgive me if I sound a bit like a bergie today. That’s how I am – and it will fit me sleeping in the cold and dark on the slopes of Table Mountain.

God knows I really try to tame my wild hair every day and I’m a little fed up with my Portuguese baths.

But I am scoffing at experts telling me that I will always need a drag-me-dry Eskom “because no one can go completely off the grid”.

Seriously? You are wrong. I know: I’ve been completely off the grid for about four months now.

ALSO READ: Load shedding: A step-by-step plan to divest Eskom and go off the grid

Surprise, surprise – the Wi-Fi is working, the laptops are charging, the mobile phones never die and the odd light bulb burns brightly every night.

Two large solar panels, six gel batteries, an even bigger inverter – my biggest expense yet – and something to control it all and voila!

Let there be light… I am touching gloriously The light of the sun for free, giving the finger to Eskom and their sneaky solar tax.

Colleagues complain about load shedding; Power banks without charging … The family?

During your darkest hours, we proudly make a TikTok video that goes first to the dark street, then to our “crystal palace”.

Long story short, the City of Joburg has no sympathy for a gray widow with wild hair and her billing mess.

“We’ll investigate and get back to you in August,” we heard in June. So we made a plan. And don’t believe the experts throwing around figures of “at least R100 000”.

READ MORE: Load shedding relief: Mantashe gave renewable energy an ultimatum

I’m a journo with many mouths to feed and a car to fill, so pennies are scarce.

I stretched these over four months, tacking bits and pieces to my “patchwork” system for the grand total of R8,000.

That “patchwork” system leaves my handy son in awe: “It’s a thing of beauty,” he says as if he’s looking at my mom’s heirloom quilt.

“So modular. You can add and add…”

Yes, we’re expecting two huge new panels and two even bigger batteries for twice that money “one day, one day”.

But here’s the catch: I have no hot water and it flatly refuses to heat a bath in an old 200l geyser over a fire like my friend did when they cut her power last week.

So this month I think I’ll be throwing a few pennies towards a little gas geyser. The only thing is, I ran out of gas tonight.

READ NOW: First load shedding and fuel increases, now Eskom wants 32.66% tariff offer – consult with Nersa