Now the other two thirds are learning to live in the dark. Widespread rolling blackouts have blighted the country over the past year, caused by the simple fact that available capacity cannot meet demand. 

The electricity crisis will not come as a surprise to anyone with knowledge about South Africa’s energy supply. Old coal-fired power stations run by state monopoly Eskom are deteriorating by the day and often fail completely, while energy fleet availability — the amount of installed capacity that is able to supply electricity to the grid — has fallen below 75%.