美国国家公共电台 NPR--South Africa's power grid is collapsing and outages are disrupting the economy

South Africa's power grid¹ is collapsing² and outages are disrupting the economy

Transcript³

South Africa's power crisis is crippling one of Africa's biggest economies and threatening the reelection prospects⁴ of the ruling party: the African National Congress.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

South Africa's economy is not so good at all because its power grid is collapsing. The president there is considering declaring a national state of disaster. Mpho Lakaje reports from Soweto, the famous township of Johannesburg.

MPHO LAKAJE, BYLINE⁵: Mohato Mokoka is racing⁶ against the clock, rushing to produce as much ice as possible...

(SOUNDBITE OF ICE CRUNCHING)

LAKAJE: ...Before the next scheduled power cuts at 5 p.m. Such outages, known as load shedding, take place up to three times a day across South Africa.

MOHATO MOKOKA: We're sitting at a production rate now of about 10- to 15% from your 100% production.

LAKAJE: But the power outages are crippling Mohato's business. He's literally⁷ watching it melt away.

MOKOKA: What you would deliver weekly, which is 500 bags, you had to drop off to about 200 bags. We had to limit us having new clients. We had to limit doing events.

LAKAJE: Producers of perishables⁸ like wine, poultry⁹, fruit and vegetables aren't spared either.

ALAN STRATFORD: Just pouring 21,000 liters of milk down the drain - there it goes.

LAKAJE: Dairy farmers like Alan Stratford are forced to throw their profits away.

STRATFORD: Couldn't cool the milk quick enough, and so now it's gone sour.

LAKAJE: And in South Africa these days, even the dead aren't immune from load shedding. With the constant power interruptions, mortuary fridges are failing.

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Singing in non-English language)

LAKAJE: The energy crisis has brought many people out on the streets. South Africans lives are ruled by load shedding, and they've had enough. The state-owned energy utility Eskom has to schedule blackouts of up to 12 hours a day in order to prevent the total collapse¹⁰ of the power grid.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT CYRIL RAMAPHOSA: We must, without delay, deal with the electricity crisis that faces the nation. That is a primary objective and a primary task.

LAKAJE: And while President Cyril Ramaphosa acknowledges that South Africa's national power grid is falling apart, the ruling African National Congress Party has done very little to prevent its imminent¹¹ collapse.

RAMAPHOSA: The cumulative¹² impact of historical underinvestment in maintenance and assets is now resulting in a series of breakdowns¹³.

LAKAJE: But now the government has no choice but to act, and the president is considering declaring a national state of disaster, which would open the way to fast-track spending.

LUNGILE MASHELE: We are now in the 16th year of load shedding in this country with no reprieve¹⁴ in sight.

LAKAJE: Independent energy expert Lungile Mashele says this is a man-made crisis.

MASHELE: You've got a political crisis, which started in 1997, where the then-CEO of Eskom alerted government and told them that, if we do not get additional capacity in, we are going to start load shedding from 2007, which is exactly what happened.

LAKAJE: However, she maintains that Eskom can still turn the corner - with political will, of course.

MASHELE: So you get the adequate skills in. You get procurement¹⁵ in. You get the funding in, consulting engineers, lawyers, and you hold contractors¹⁶ accountable for what has to happen.

LAKAJE: Most importantly, corruption¹⁷, which the government admits has contributed significantly to the crisis at Eskom, has to be addressed. But the ruling ANC doesn't have time on its side. South Africans will be heading to the polls in national elections next year, and the energy crisis may influence the outcome.

For NPR News, I am Mpho Lakaje, Soweto, South Africa.

1 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

2 collapsing   

压扁[平]，毁坏，断裂

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The rocks were folded by collapsing into the center of the trough. 岩石由于坍陷进入凹槽的中心而发生褶皱。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

7 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

8 perishables   

n.容易腐坏的东西（尤指食品）( perishable的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Perishables are stacked on deck under cover, awaiting rigid inspection before they are struck below. 易腐物品已经覆盖起来堆放在甲板上，等经过严格的检查后再搬下船舱。 来自辞典例句
• Sorry, these perishables are not allowed to bring in. 对不起，这些易腐烂的东西是不允许入境的。 来自互联网

9 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?

10 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

11 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。

12 cumulative   

adj.累积的，渐增的

参考例句：

• This drug has a cumulative effect.这种药有渐增的效力。
• The benefits from eating fish are cumulative.吃鱼的好处要长期才能显现。

13 breakdowns   

n.分解( breakdown的名词复数 )；衰竭；（车辆或机器的）损坏；统计分析

参考例句：

• Her old car was unreliable, so the trip was plagued by breakdowns. 她的旧车老不听使唤，一路上总是出故障。 来自辞典例句
• How do we prevent these continual breakdowns? 我们如何防止这些一再出现的故障？ 来自辞典例句

14 reprieve   

n.暂缓执行（死刑）；v.缓期执行；给…带来缓解

参考例句：

• He was saved from the gallows by a lastminute reprieve.最后一刻的缓刑令把他从绞架上解救了下来。
• The railway line, due for closure, has been granted a six-month reprieve.本应停运的铁路线获准多运行6 个月。

15 procurement   

n.采购；获得

参考例句：

• He is in charge of the procurement of materials.他负责物资的采购。
• More and more,human food procurement came to have a dominant effect on their evolution.人类获取食物愈来愈显著地影响到人类的进化。

16 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。