Everybody is talking about the South African power shortage. To be in vogue, here is my contribution.
Vivian MacFadyen
There is an untapped natural and indestructible resource that is available countrywide. If harnessed, this force will almost eliminate household reliance on electricity for heating purposes. There is however, a challenge for engineers to capture this energy whilst active. It is elusive, and is only fully appreciated by the masses. It is the blast of hot air expelled from the mouths of those intent on self-advancement or empowerment, and individuals avoiding responsibility for their inaction. They conceal their ignorance and hide their incompetence by making illogical statements. At the same time, they score points with the masses by having the last word irrespective of legitimacy.
I have repeatedly highlighted the skills shortage (drain) in South Africa, and the power situation is purely a symptom of this loss. The next casualty will possibly be the petroleum supply; already there have been serious accidents in refineries. This will be even worse for the average person than the electrical power crises. Those few fortunate persons who have diesel generators to overcome the electricity shortage will have no diesel for their expensive alternatives.
We are now so deep into the mess that it will take many years to get ourselves out of it. If we do not do something urgently, the future of our offspring will be subsistence farming on barren land.
It is high time we relinquished the ties of ignorance and prejudice, so that we can recover from this dismal situation. Education and experiential training is the answer, but this will take 20 years to achieve. We need to bring to an end the evacuation of skilled persons and shrewdly use our remaining resources. We have many highly skilled individuals who are being blocked from participation in the recovery, we have reached a point where we need to start thinking…
SAIMC Zambia SAIMC
SAIMC News
SAIMC Zambia marked its 21st anniversary with the annual SAIMC Banquet, held on 29 November 2025 at Mukwa Lodge in Kitwe, Zambia.
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The SAIMC Durban Branch closed off its 2025 technology meetings with an exceptionally well-attended session on selecting and applying signal transducers.
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The SAIMC Durban branch hosted its much-anticipated annual year-end dinner at the Mount Edgecombe Country Club on 22 November 2025. Durban’s summer weather provided the perfect backdrop for a warm, ...
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At the Durban branch of the SAIMC held in October, Mitch Naidoo took the attendees on an interesting journey on Asset Health Management: Tracking The Pulse Of Your Plant.
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At the Durban branch of the SAIMC held in October, Mitch Naidoo took the attendees on an interesting journey on Asset Health Management: Tracking The Pulse Of Your Plant.
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The SAIMC Johannesburg Branch technical evening was hosted by Proconics Advanced Solutions. The topic of the session was ‘Turning Big 3D Data into Actionable Engineering Insights – Challenges and Smart Solutions’.
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October 2025 marked a pivotal moment for the South African automation and manufacturing community as the SAIMC User Advisory Council hosted its first annual summit under the SAIMC banner.
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The Johannesburg Branch of the SAIMC hosted a successful Technology Evening on 10 September. The event was well attended and generously sponsored by Phoenix Contact.
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