The Chronicles of Load-Shedding . Harold Mawela

The Counsel of the Dry Riverbed: Why the Lion of Judah Hunts Alone Bulls A Devotional from the Heart of Pretoria From my home here in Akasia, Pretoria, where the Highveld sky stretches wide and the Jacaranda roots run deep, I want to speak to you about a profound and perilous modern myth. It is the cult of the soloist, the worship of the self-made, go-it-alone individual. In our streets pulsing with the fusion of Amapiano and Afrobeats, in our boardrooms buzzing with digital ambition, and even in our churches sometimes whispering with quiet compromise, a dangerous idea has taken root: that seeking counsel is a sign of weakness, and that true strength is a lonely, prideful summit. My friend, this is not wisdom. This is the setup for a fall. The lion does not consult the wind because he is weak; he does it because he is wise. The lone bull, separated from the thundering herd, is not a symbol of power but a target. His solitary silhouette against the savannah is an invitation. In the same...

The Altar of Daily Work: When Your Job Becomes Your Worship From my study window here in Akasia, Pretoria North, I watch the morning sun crest over the Rosslyn industrial belt. The hum of the BMW plant is a morning hymn; the orderly lines of Nissan trucks are a silent procession. My neighbours—a Tswana technician, an Afrikaans engineer, a Congolese entrepreneur—pour out of their homes in Theresapark and Karenpark, not to escape their lives, but to build them. They are the artisans of our new South Africa. And I am convinced that the click of their keyboards, the turn of their wrenches, and the balance of their ledgers are as sacred as any psalm sung in Sunday’s stained-glass light. You see, we have suffered a terrible divorce in our thinking. We have sliced the world into sacred and secular, pulpit and production line, as if God retreats from the factory floor or the classroom after the opening prayer. This is a modern heresy, a spiritual apartheid that confines the presence of the Alm...

The Architecture of Obedience: Building the Bridge Between Faith and Freedom A bridge serves no purpose without two firm foundations, and the most perilous gap is the one we rarely name: the chasm between the faith we profess and the footsteps we take. From my study window in Akasia, Pretoria, I see the shadows of our past architecture—a city planned for division, where apartheid’s ‘Group Areas Act’ carved separate worlds for White, Black, Indian, and Coloured people, turning neighbours into distant, legal strangers. The philosophy was one of segregation, and the practice was brutal obedience to that error, building physical and spiritual walls. Today, a different philosophy whispers from our culture: a gospel of self-fulfilment that treats faith as a private feeling, a treasure to be admired but never spent. Both systems, though worlds apart in intent, share a fatal flaw: they sever belief from behaviour. They build a foundation on one side of the chasm and call it a complete city. Ou...

The Thirsty Soul: Why Our Pursuit of Pleasure Leaves Us Empty and How Christ Offers True Life The other night, here in Akasia, Pretoria, a Level 5 storm warning screamed across my phone. The sky darkened, the wind whipped the jacaranda trees, and for a moment, the whole suburb held its breath. Yet, as I looked out my window, I realised a deeper, more silent storm was already raging. It wasn’t in the clouds, but in the spirit of our nation—a storm of fleeting pleasures promising refuge but delivering only ruin. From the tragic news of a New Year’s Day murder in Limpopo to the frantic chase for the next government grant or viral moment, we are a people drowning in what we craved. The Sugar Ant’s Path: A South African Parable of Pleasure Let me paint a picture for you. Imagine a line of sugar ants, marching in perfect formation. They have found a treasure trove—a spilled packet of sugar, glistening and white. Each ant takes a granule, a tiny burst of sweetness, and carries it back to the ...

 The Chemistry of Companions: Your Inner Circle as the Crucible of Destiny My friends, from my home in Akasia, Pretoria, I write to you as the fierce summer storms darken our skies—the very storms that, as we speak, pelt Vastfontein with hail and too often plunge our neighbourhoods into darkness due to our ailing infrastructure. In this tangible tension between nature’s power and our societal frailties, between hope and hardship, there exists a profound spiritual principle. It is the principle of influence. You are not an island. Your spirit is a vessel, and it is being filled—drop by drop, thought by thought, attitude by attitude—by the company you keep. The ancient proverb is true: you are the reflection of the five people you fellowship with most. Their attitudes seep into your spirit like dye in water, colouring your convictions, tinting your vision, and staining your resolve. This is not mere sentiment; it is spiritual chemistry. The question that pounds like a drum in the cha...

 The Mind at War: Anchoring Thought in Christ Amidst South Africa’s Storms By Harold Mawela, from Pretoria I am a man from Akasia, a stone’s throw from the Union Buildings where power is brokered, but a world away from the corridors where decisions are made. From my modest stoep, I watch the Jacaranda City prepare for another season. The purple blooms have fallen, their brief majesty trampled into the dust of another hot Highveld summer. The season of spectacular beauty gives way to a more familiar, more honest terrain: the hard, sunbaked earth. This, my friends, is the perfect metaphor for our current moment—and for the battlefield of the mind. We have passed from a season of lofty promises into the arduous work of survival. Where does the mind of a believer anchor itself when the ground feels so hard and unforgiving? This is not a trivial question. It is the difference between a life of chaotic, fearful reaction and a life of steadfast, hopeful purpose. The mind is a warzone. Eve...