While the plight of loadshedding affects every South African in its own way, the residents of the UP Hillcrest campus find themselves in particularly dire straits. This is due to the lack of alternative generation capacity for the campus. The consequence is that when the national grid disconnects, students are left without light, access to the internet, cooking facilities (in the case of self-catering residences), and, in certain residences, hot water. With the national power crisis often leaving South Africans without power for hours on end, the students in UP’s Hillcrest residences are fed up.
This call did not fall on deaf ears, as the Department of Residence Affairs and Accommodation (TuksRes) sent out a letter dated 28 July 2023 addressing this problem. In this letter, TuksRes acknowledged the “significant challenge” of loadshedding and that “reliable power is crucial for [students’] studies, research and daily life”, promising that a “comprehensive plan that includes the installation of backup power generators on both the Hatfield and Hillcrest Campuses” was underway. According to the statement, “installation of backup power generators [was] expected to be completed during the course of the year, 2023” and the target was “to have the generators fully operational before the end of the academic year”. Though the residences on the Hatfield campus have now been furnished with alternative power generators, Hillcrest still sits in the dark.
For the inhabitants of Hillcrest’s eight residences, night-time loadshedding means a dark and unsafe walk along Lunnon Road from UP’s Hatfield campus, often late at night and while chasing deadlines. Although the bus service does indeed run between Hillcrest and Hatfield, the last departing bus leaves at 20:20, and the return line ceases operation at 22:10. The alternative is to make use of UP’s green route.
A 2024 chairperson from one of the Hillcrest residences, who wished to remain anonymous, stated that much of the burden would be eased if a plan were made for there to “just be Wi-Fi” during loadshedding to empower students to study in the dark. Another second-year house committee member expressed a similar sentiment. “No one can do work during loadshedding, and that’s really the biggest problem – we need to do schoolwork during loadshedding.”
PDBY approached TuksRes for comment regarding the timeline for the installation of alternative generation capacity at Hillcrest; however, no comment was given.
As loadshedding continues to plague South African society, student leaders at the UP Hillcrest residences continue to fight for power while residents keep their fingers crossed for a time when they can work in the dark
