My name is Vuyiseka Dubula-Majola. I work with girls and women in the Activist Education and Development Centre. I am also the former General-Secretary of the Treatment Action Campaign. Darkness is destroying our lives and women live in a special darkness. Walking home from work at night or leaving before sunrise makes the lives of women and girls darker than it is because of the dangers of rape, robbery and murder. At home, the inability to ensure hot meals causes distress, anger and unnecessary expense. We will #FixEskom through educating ourselves about corruption and state capture at the electricity provider, the maintenance of power stations, the dangers to our lives and the cost of coal. We are learning about solar power and other renewables, electricity generation, transmission and distribution. Our efforts based on research, mass education, mass struggle and other forms of pressure will ensure that your government fulfills its constitutional duties.

My child suffers from a rare bone disease which requires daily medication. His medicines must be refrigerated. When loadshedding occurs, his medication becomes less effective and when loadshedding reaches stage six, his medicines go off. I have come here today to say that my child’s life is endangered by corruption and mismanagement of Eskom. My son’s rights to health, life and dignity are violated by the government's failure to address the electricity crisis.

I am a textile worker at National Cap in Ndabeni. Loadshedding affects us hugely, it’s bad. We now only get paid for four days a week because we have to sit at work for 2 hours a day when there is loadshedding – unpaid! It’s not nice. I have to pay school fees, taxi fares and food. It leaves a big hole in my pocket. And tomorrow it’s the same story. We lose at least 8 hours a week sometimes 10 hours! And what wages does that leave with me to take home? We got too little money and food is very expensive now. I have to ensure my daughter, Katie, has her taxi fare to school everyday. Katie’s taxi fare is R350 per week and mine is R120 a week. I spend almost R500 on transport a week for the 2 of us. I get just over R1000 a week. Pressure on us as workers is high. We’re stressed out. The bosses still expect us to make our production targets for the day and the week with loadshedding and all! We the people have to #FixEskom.

I am an activist in Free Gender, a Black working-class lesbian organisation based in Khayelitsha. Our community suffers from the damage caused to electrical equipment and appliances such as refrigerators by loadshedding. The power surges when rotational load-shedding ends places us at greater risk especially during the day when no-one is at home. Teaching and learning especially in specialised schools that need electrical equipment are negatively affected. Over 15 years many of our members who are lesbian and our LGBTIQ allies have been brutally murdered, raped or assaulted because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. As women and girls, lesbians are particularly vulnerable in the darkness caused by loadshedding.

I support the #UniteBehind Electricity Action Campaign. I own Studio 47, a fabric supplier to many home-based clothing workers. During loadshedding, I spend R200 per hour on diesel to keep my business open. I cannot pass this cost on to my clients because they are poor working women supporting their families. I support #UniteBehind’s Electricity Action Campaign.