Daylight saving time (DST) is a reality in more than 70 countries worldwide — but not in South Africa. Budget airline kulula.com, which started its ”Fight for Light” DST campaign on September 1 this year, now claims President Thabo Mbeki has asked one of his ministers to investigate whether South Africa can adopt DST.
Countries using DST adjust the official time with an hour forward during summer. This means that an hour of daylight in the morning is moved to the evening, leading to the feeling that there is more light during the day.
A DST petition was started by kulula.com in September; it already has more than 25 000 votes in favour. The airline hopes that by September next year it will have enough votes to ask the government to change the clocks.
But kulula.com also claims the government is already looking into the matter. Executive director Gidon Novick told the Mail & Guardian Online on Friday that this is ”the biggest development up until today”.
He said it has not been specified which minister is involved.
”I am going to see Minister [of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Marthinus] van Schalkwyk on Tuesday.”
A press release on the kulula.com website, dated September 21, states: ”In a letter from the minerals and energy ministry, dated September 13, Minister Lindiwe Hendrick has promised to take kulula.com’s bright initiative of introducing daylight saving in this country into consideration.”
But both the minerals and energy ministry and the ministry of environmental affairs and tourism haven’t heard of the matter.
The chief director of communications at the Department of Minerals and Energy, Yvonne Mfolo, said: ”This department is not looking at it. The matter is too big; it affects the industry as well. I don’t know if anybody is looking at it, but I would have known if that was the case.”
Riaan Aucamp, media-liaison officer at the ministry of environmental affairs and tourism, said: ”You are not the first one to ask this, but you have to be at the Department of Minerals and Energy. I am not officially informed about this.”
While kulula.com claims that the president’s office will also respond to the airline’s initiative, Smuts Ngonyama, head of the Presidency, told the M&G Online: ”I know nothing about that [DST].”
A major benefit of DST is energy conservation — fewer people use electricity and other energy sources because there is ”more” daylight.
The amount of residential electricity needed in the evening hours is dependent on when the sun sets and when people go to bed, as people tend to have the same bedtime all year round. By artificially moving sunset one hour later, the amount of energy used is reduced. In South Africa, power cuts happen often.
There could also be a reduction in pollution because less fossil fuel would be burnt.
According to the South African Police Service’s crime intelligence unit in Johannesburg, there would be fewer incidences of car theft and hijackings, because these crimes usually happen in the dark. More people would be able to return home in daylight, which would decrease the number of traffic accidents.
The latest DST campaign development is corporate support, said Novick.
”We are very encouraged by the response. Initially, it was only consumers and frequent flyers that visited the website. Subsequently to that, we are now speaking to the big guys,” he said.
Absa and Woolworths are two of the larger companies that have signed the petition.