One morning a month ago, I woke up to find my house without electricity. My first thought was that there was loadshedding in the neighbhourhood. But electricity had not returned by the end of the day. Upon checking with my neighbours, it was confirmed that electricity had been restored to the rest of the houses in the estate. The City of Johannesburg advised that I contact Eskom directly.

For two days, I made calls and sent emails – all of which went unanswered. By that point, I had sent my meat supply to my grandmother in Soweto to keep it frozen. I couldn’t cook. I didn’t have a gas stove but had bought one for my family, who experience loadshedding far more than me...