Within hours of landing in Cape Town, British journalist and CNN news anchor, Richard Quest, shared an image on Twitter with the caption: “Oh no! There’s a mountain spoiling the view from my hotel window!!”
Quest spent a week in Cape Town on two assignments. The first, “Quest’s World of Wonder“, is a project that explores different destinations from a tourist’s point of view and gains insight into a region’s heritage and culture. The second assignment is called “Quest Means Business”, which focuses on a country’s current events.
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Oh no! There’s a mountain spoiling the view from my hotel window!! pic.twitter.com/mNI6z4AXnI
— Richard Quest (@richardquest) February 6, 2023
But then, Quest experienced loadshedding for 30 minutes before the generator kicked in. The paradox currently presented to tourists visiting South Africa was revealed… to over 500,000 Twitter followers.
The country can ill afford to have one of the most authoritative voices in international media come to our country to sit in the dark for two hours at a time. It certainly won’t help tourism flourish, writes Cape {town} Etc’s Adrienne Bredeveldt.
Well that didn’t take long. Arrived at my hotel at 0130. At 0200 the lights went out as load shedding kicked in for Area 7 (stage 2) #LoadsheddingUpdate (hotel generator kicked in)
— Richard Quest (@richardquest) February 6, 2023
Quest expressed his opinion on loadshedding in an interview reported by BizNews: “I think it is very tempting to dress it up in some cutesy phrase of “loadshedding”.
“Loadshedding is a power cut. And this is 2023.”
“So I think that South Africans are incredibly ingenious at working around it. But the actual raw fact that everyday people are going on these very efficient apps to find out just how many hours a day they are going to not have electricity is breathtaking.”
“The funny part about it is, building a first world economy in so many ways, and the technologically advanced, you have these brilliant apps and people extol the virtues of these various apps, which tell you with micro-precision when the lights are going to go off.”
“You’re talking about something that would be unthinkable in the US, Germany, Italy, Australia, the UK. It would be unthinkable that for weeks at a time, 100 days, I believe so far. And you’re not losing power for 10 minutes it’s two or three times a day for several hours, up to 8 hours a day. This is what I find extraordinary about the whole loadshedding thing. Power cuts. Let’s roll that cutesy phrase loadshedding. It’s not a power cut.”
Quest added South Africa has many “talented people with sheer drive and dynamism – absolutely no question that there’s no hopelessness about it. I think the issue is the level and depth of the mess at the moment”.
Though it’s wonderful to be recognised for our “talent, drive and dynamism,” Quest might have mistaken our lack of hopelessness for a lack of faith – we get on with things because there isn’t any other option. We have no cards to play. We’re with the US, Germany, Italy, Australia, and the UK: loadshedding is unthinkable. Only, we’re voiceless.
While South Africans scream bloody murder into the void that is our government, billion-rand deals in which leaders receive free soccer tickets and a spot of advertising in the background are viewed as a formidable solution to our battered economy. It’s all redundant, and Quest’s tweets are a brutal reminder of that. “Come to South Africa”… and sit in the dark.
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According to Google, Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium can accommodate 62,850 spectators, excluding the millions of viewers watching from home. But when the tourists actually arrive in the country, the proposed progress (presented in an elementary PowerPoint) comes to a grinding halt. Like when big-time influencers tell their half a million social media followers that South Africa has no electricity, even at our fancy hotels.
Loadshedding and all (although the blow was likely softened by that delayed generator), Quest did tweet about having a wonderful time in Cape Town. But the bad exposure begs the question: how long will it be before the world catches on to the facade, before generators have no fuel to run, before South Africans lose that “welcoming, beautiful” spirit?
Thank you #CapeTown and #SouthAfrica for a wonderful assignment. Whatever the challenges you are the most welcoming, beautiful, friendly place to visit. So many great meals and conversations… and sunsets galore. Thank you & a bientôt. pic.twitter.com/9NfTU8NXoX
— Richard Quest (@richardquest) February 12, 2023
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Picture: @richardquest / Twitter