Then, in March, the outages suddenly stopped. Even as the southern hemisphere descended into winter, when electric heaters and early sunsets drive up demand, Eskom, the troubled state-owned utility that generates most of South Africa's energy, managed to keep the lights on.
It's now been seven months and counting since the country's last episode of load shedding. Persent is pleased with the streak but has no plans to get rid of the generator. "We're happy," he said, "but we're not relaxed."
For years, chronic power outages have hobbled South Africa. First implemented in 2008, they cost the economy up to R899-million/day, according to central bank estimates, and were a big reason why the ANC lost its majority in elections last June. Attempts to fix the corruption-gutted utility have failed over the years - a sweeping privatisation plan collapsed an effort to add generation capacity dragged out and never fully materialised and inside power stations, theft and sabotage became more audacious.
Now the situation appears to be stabilising. The effects of recent and longstanding reforms have radically improved employee morale, according to experts, analysts and officials, which has made all the difference in helping Eskom get back on its feet. The decision to delay the retirement of three coal-fired power plants also played a big role.
The efforts of law enforcement and the courts have produced "phenomenal" results, said Lumkile Mondi, an economist at the University of the Witwatersrand, who has written extensively on Eskom.
