I'm originally from South Africa (all of my family and a lot of my friends still live there).
Everyone I know down there have diesel generators as backup. The state run utility can't provide enough power to supply the whole country which means that they institute "load shedding" quite often. What this actually means is that you can expect to be without power for 4 hour stretches on a regular basis as they roll these through the country.
I went back there for an extended (8 month) visit last year and the power situation drove me nuts.
"In matters of principle, stand like a rock; in matters of taste, swim with the current." -- Thomas Jefferson