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I suspect they're withdrawing due to infrastructure issues. We also have frequent power cuts (in my area it's up to 4 hours a day with no electricity) and loads

I suspect they're withdrawing due to infrastructure issues. We also have frequent power cuts (in my area it's up to 4 hours a day with no electricity) and loads of cable theft. Some of the cell towers even get shut down because people steal the hardware, the batteries that keep them operational. Heck, we've even had cases of people stealing fibre cables, because they thought they were worth more than copper. *I am a South African living in South Africa.

WrtCdEvrydy 7y ago
Unfortunately, this is the downward spiral of having bad actors. I kinda wish we lived in a world where communities could self-regulate and expel bad actors to let the ones who want to work together to achieve something can thrive.
- eklavya 7y ago
  Do you mean law and order?
- buro9 7y ago
  It's more the downward spiral created by inequality and poverty. Address that and you can have nice things safely.
  - shard972 7y ago
    I mean are we to believe the inequality is worse now than under apartite?
- zapzupnz 7y ago
  When you see the inequality in South Africa, when even people working good jobs still get paid only in single digits (which in Rands comes to /nothing/), where things cost so damn much — you might have a slightly more sympathetic take on why people do what they do to survive.
  - WrtCdEvrydy 7y ago
    As a cuban, I totally understand that theft is the only way to survive in some environments. I wonder if the future might be companies investing in countries to reap the benefits (but that would require thinking beyond the quarter)
pixelpoet 7y ago
Eish, that's still going on? I'm half South African and grew up in SA but left in 2007, mainly because of the crime, but also the Telkom monopoly and rolling blackouts ("load shedding") were not so conducive to starting an internet business. It's kinda amazing to me that any techies stay there. Cape Town is beautiful yes, but so is New Zealand (where many Saffers such as my family emigrated to).
- chilldsgn 7y ago
  It's worse than ever. I am having a lot of trouble keeping to my deadlines for work and have to work around all the blackouts which frustratingly disrupts my life and thousands of other businesses. Just a couple more years until my degree is done, then I am GTFO of here.
  - Aeolun 7y ago
    Can’t you get a UPS? Or do they last too long to make that an option?
    - dade_ 7y ago
      Load shedding lasts for hours. Generators are a big business, but they are expensive to buy and run. Keeping a good battery in your laptop is great, but the power to the wired internet infrastructure, the cell towers, etc are also cut. You could drive to the office, but the traffic lights have no power either. So it is nightmare. The real reason you can't operate in ZA is Empowerment, and what Google probably ran into. They can only own 49% of the business the start. They must find an empowerment partner (which means some black people, but they have no money so you have to give them their controlling 51% share) that happens to be a friend of the ANC (not a documented requirement, but I did mention corruption). So they will siphon funds out of the company, but if you have the right ones, you can win big government contracts such with the bailout money they keep getting. The place is a banana republic - Live there, enjoy you cheap labour, great food, amazing geography, the wildlife, your personal security guards and inexpensive servants, but don't reside there and keep everything in another currency.
bogomipz 7y ago
Whereabout in SA are you? Are the issues you describe more common in rural areas or is it in the larger cities as well?
- chilldsgn 7y ago
  Johannesburg region
- frankzinger 7y ago
  The power cuts are country-wide. The sole, state-owned power utility Eskom has neglected its infrastructure despite warnings going back decades and now cannot generate enough electricity to meet demand. And the corruption under former president Jacob Zuma has caused newer power station projects to be botched and run way over schedule and budget. In the best case we will be having regular power cuts for the next 18 months at least.

WrtCdEvrydy 7y ago

Unfortunately, this is the downward spiral of having bad actors. I kinda wish we lived in a world where communities could self-regulate and expel bad actors to let the ones who want to work together to achieve something can thrive.

eklavya 7y ago
Do you mean law and order?
buro9 7y ago
It's more the downward spiral created by inequality and poverty. Address that and you can have nice things safely.
- shard972 7y ago
  I mean are we to believe the inequality is worse now than under apartite?
zapzupnz 7y ago
When you see the inequality in South Africa, when even people working good jobs still get paid only in single digits (which in Rands comes to /nothing/), where things cost so damn much — you might have a slightly more sympathetic take on why people do what they do to survive.
- WrtCdEvrydy 7y ago
  As a cuban, I totally understand that theft is the only way to survive in some environments. I wonder if the future might be companies investing in countries to reap the benefits (but that would require thinking beyond the quarter)

pixelpoet 7y ago

Eish, that's still going on? I'm half South African and grew up in SA but left in 2007, mainly because of the crime, but also the Telkom monopoly and rolling blackouts ("load shedding") were not so conducive to starting an internet business. It's kinda amazing to me that any techies stay there. Cape Town is beautiful yes, but so is New Zealand (where many Saffers such as my family emigrated to).

chilldsgn 7y ago
It's worse than ever. I am having a lot of trouble keeping to my deadlines for work and have to work around all the blackouts which frustratingly disrupts my life and thousands of other businesses. Just a couple more years until my degree is done, then I am GTFO of here.
- Aeolun 7y ago
  Can’t you get a UPS? Or do they last too long to make that an option?
  - dade_ 7y ago
    Load shedding lasts for hours. Generators are a big business, but they are expensive to buy and run. Keeping a good battery in your laptop is great, but the power to the wired internet infrastructure, the cell towers, etc are also cut. You could drive to the office, but the traffic lights have no power either. So it is nightmare. The real reason you can't operate in ZA is Empowerment, and what Google probably ran into. They can only own 49% of the business the start. They must find an empowerment partner (which means some black people, but they have no money so you have to give them their controlling 51% share) that happens to be a friend of the ANC (not a documented requirement, but I did mention corruption). So they will siphon funds out of the company, but if you have the right ones, you can win big government contracts such with the bailout money they keep getting. The place is a banana republic - Live there, enjoy you cheap labour, great food, amazing geography, the wildlife, your personal security guards and inexpensive servants, but don't reside there and keep everything in another currency.

bogomipz 7y ago

Whereabout in SA are you? Are the issues you describe more common in rural areas or is it in the larger cities as well?

chilldsgn 7y ago
Johannesburg region
frankzinger 7y ago
The power cuts are country-wide. The sole, state-owned power utility Eskom has neglected its infrastructure despite warnings going back decades and now cannot generate enough electricity to meet demand. And the corruption under former president Jacob Zuma has caused newer power station projects to be botched and run way over schedule and budget. In the best case we will be having regular power cuts for the next 18 months at least.