25 Years at the Cape of Good Hope

Having retired from the Bank in 2000, it is time to reflect on the quarter century that I have spent in Cape Town since retirement, albeit only half of each year.  Known as “swallows” in South Africa, the equivalent of US “snow birds”, my wife and I established a pattern of moving back and forth between the Cape and Austria, always following the sun.  Having daughters and a grandson in California, the US also became a summer destination.  The initial anxiety about leaving the familiar DC area soon gave way to enthusiasm about our dual abode on the old continents.

The rainbow nation of South Africa immediately captured our imagination.  Cape Town offered depth of history, a multicultural and multi-ethnic society, an excellent university, great cultural offerings, glorious landscape, and an abundance of vineyards in close proximity.  Over time, the problems of the society also became apparent, as the country struggled to emerge from the apartheid mindset that poisoned so many minds.  But we plunged into the new life, which enabled me to obtain another degree at the university and to publish books on the interface between economics and religious ethics. Immersing myself in a different culture was immensely rewarding.

Despite my new focus on comparative religion, my Bank past in the energy sector did not release me right away.  Initially, I did a few stints as guest lecturer on rural energy at the University of Cape Town and occupied myself with understanding the South African energy sector.  This helped in coping with the electricity crisis some years later, when rolling blackouts punished the economy for years on end.  When we arrived at the Cape 25 years ago, the electricity sector was a shining example of efficiency, competence, and strong capacity reserves, a model for Africa.  The long-run outlook for electricity supply was bright.  But as I joined an expert panel to advise the government on future strategy, we ended up sounding a warning that timely investments in generating and grid capacity were necessary to avoid future bottlenecks.  Having inherited a smoothly functioning system, the new democratic government was not too concerned about these issues and set about expanding much-needed access to electricity for the long-neglected previously disadvantaged majority of the population.  Considerations of allowing private generating capacity were delayed by political bickering.  Eventually, the chickens came home to roost.  Severe shortages of capacity led to years of “load shedding”, planned blackouts rotating between areas of the country.  The resilience of South Africans showed in the fact that everybody was proud of having an App that announced planned blackouts by area, rather than being outraged at the planning failures.  Allegations of corruption, incompetence, and sabotage by organized crime were swirling in the media, the reform-minded CEO of the electricity company had his coffee poisoned and fled overseas.  Then, before the last election, as if by magic, load shedding stopped overnight and has not returned since.  Honi soit qui mal y pense…..[1]

Nevertheless, life at the Cape is generally pleasant and laid-back for us swallows, although the many problems of high crime, exorbitant inequality, high unemployment, and crumbling infrastructure are real.  The Western Province that encompasses Cape Town is rightly proud of its record of being more efficient and functional than many of the other provinces, a fact that attracts enormous internal migration that is putting pressure on schools, hospitals, and infrastructure.  The large seasonal influx of tourists adds to the difficulties.  Charities, churches and NGOs plug the welfare gap that is left by a cash-strapped government.  It is very worthwhile to work with the many help organizations that lessen the plight of the poor and the homeless.  Cape Town always pulls itself up by its bootstraps.

So there it is.  I continue spending the northern hemisphere winters at the Cape, enjoying the southern summer.  I dabble in research at the university, hoping for inspiration for another book, and do the rest of the thinking while contemplating the sea from my terrace, a glass of good South African wine in hand.  Life after the Bank is not so bad.

[1] …an Anglo-Saxon phrase that translates to “Shame be to him who thinks evil of it”. It is the motto of the British chivalric Order of the Garter and appears on the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom.

* Karl Jechoutek was economist, division chief, and adviser/knowledge manager in the Bank’s energy sector from 1977 to 2000.  After retirement, he obtained a degree in religious studies, and has been lecturing and publishing as independent scholar, dividing his time between Austria and South Africa.

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KEYWORDS   Cape Town, Electricity, Life after Bank, South Africa