Kulula.com repeats call for daylight saving in SA
BUDGET airline kulula.com has taken advantage of the country‘s power shortages to once again call for the introduction of daylight saving time in South Africa.
“In the light of the critical power shortages that South Africa is facing kulula.com has today made another urgent request to government to consider the introduction of daylight saving time (DST) in South Africa,” the company said yesterday.
Kulula first introduced the concept of daylight saving time in South Africa in 2005 and has collected thousands of signatures of support.
“Being in the leisure and travel industry we will no doubt benefit from daylight saving time but we really believe that the entire country will benefit from an extra hour of light,” said Gidon Novick, joint CEO of kulula.com
The company cited studies done by the US department of transportation that have shown that DST in the US has trimmed power usage by one per cent.
Kulula.com said this meant “that less electricity would be used for lighting and use of appliances late in the day. The studies also showed that most people plan outdoor activities during the ‘longer‘ days of spring and summer and therefore are not consuming electricity at home”.
DST is practised in a number of countries, including Britain, Namibia and Egypt.
Kulula.com said benefits of moving onto the system included saving energy, allowing more leisure time and reducing road accidents as more people would be travelling home from work in daylight hours. It may also reduce crime, which is more likely to be committed at night.
“We do accept that this initiative alone will not solve the country‘s power crisis but it will certainly help. The other benefits to the country, least of all crime prevention, make the case for daylight saving time in South Africa compelling and we will continue to drive the campaign,” concluded Novick.
According to the National Economic and Development Labour Council (Nedlac), the first attempts to introduce DST in South Africa predate the Boer War, when Witwatersrand mines introduced the idea to give miners more daylight recreational time. It was again introduced during the Second World War in a bid to save fuel but was not a success as neighbouring countries did not follow suit.
In 1952 the Johannesburg city council passed a motion endorsing the introduction of DST, but this never occurred.
In 1985 the town council of Plettenberg Bay instituted DST within its jurisdiction.
“Plet-Time” was abandoned because of the problems caused by the discrepancy between “Plet- Time” and national time.
Article from The Herald Online>>>
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Labels: South Africa - Airlines
