Electrical plugs and outlets in South Africa are enough to drive me batty. I get a little frustrated with the lack of outlets in a room (typically one per room), but then I recall that in many SA rural areas, electricity didn’t exist just 10-20 years ago. Should be thankful my village has electricity, no?
The variety of plugs is equally frustrating. Picture #1 shows the three most common plugs. A fourth one not pictured is large like the top one but the points are rectangular rather than round. Needless to say, each type of plug requires a specific type of outlet. We have had to run cords and add multiple outlets in a manner that no electrical code inspector would ever approve, at least not back in the States.
Add to all of the above that the few US appliances we brought with us (e.g. laptop, camera battery chargers) have US plugs and require an adapter plug (square item in picture below) … well, it’s a mess. Maybe “no electricity” would be the best route to go after all – NOT!
