By: Natasha Archary
Loadshedding has been declared South Africa’s ‘Word of the Year’ 2022, beating Phala Phala to top spot.
The Pan South African Lanaguage Board(PanSALB) put up a poll to determine which word ranked high on the country’s vocabulary and it seems Eskoms’ torturous blackouts was it.
Drawing in 40% of the votes, loadshedding knocked of other short-listed words such as, Inganekwane, Phala Phala, and Xenophobia.
South Africans who are known to make light (excuse the pun) out of every situation, picked the most-used word this year, perhaps as something of a coping mechanism.
PanSALB CEO, Lance Schultz said, “It should come as no surprise to many South African that loadshedding has been the most used word/term in South Africa as the dreaded rolling blackouts instituted by Eskom have largely defined our lived experience in 2022.”
With loadshedding likely to stay, as Eskom have made no efforts to cut back or halt the rolling blackouts, it’s become every household’s worst nightmare, costing businesses thousands every month.
This is the country’s worst loadshedding spell in history.
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