Load shedding is currently a daily pain in the butt for South Africans and more than just a major inconvenience – it’s a crime risk too:
Insurer Dialdirect said it has compared the number of burglary incidents and the number of vehicle accidents when there is no load shedding to when there is which was compiled from July 2019 to May 2022. It found that during the week, load shedding resulted in a 3.2% increase in burglaries and a 5.2% increase in vehicle accidents, reports BusinessTech.
“Motorists are encouraged to drive cautiously at all times, but especially so in poorly lit areas. Treat all inoperative traffic lights as a four-way stop, and when in doubt, yield to oncoming traffic from the right. Do not assume that all other drivers will stop so exercise extreme vigilance and drive defensively,” said Anneli Retief, Head of Dialdirect.
Get a few high-wattage solar-powered lights for your garden, and a few LED lights for inside. Light is also a deterrent to would-be burglars.