On the cusp of harvesting this season's first fruit, South African deciduous farmer Heinie du Toit frets as the worst power cuts on record threaten to take the shine off his apple and pear crop destined for foreign markets.
Situated in Ceres, one of the country's major fruit growing regions around 120km (75 miles) north east of Cape Town, the century-old family farm "Remhoogte" needs a steady electricity supply for an automated irrigation pump network that sprays thousands of trees heavy with fruit.
