INLSA

Frequent power outages in Pietermaritzburg are crippling the productivity of businesses in the Willowton industrial area, which are losing millions of rand.

Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Business chief executive Melanie Veness said the outages had affected several businesses severely, reducing productivity at many 24-hour operations. Last week, three consecutive shifts were affected.

The outages came as a result of cable theft and ageing infrastructure, she said.

Veness said that meetings were being held with the municipality to discuss alternative ways to secure the power supply.

“The next meeting is to be held next Monday. We need to discuss a better means of security as the main power cable leading to the Willowton industrial area runs through an informal settlement, where it is susceptible to being stolen,” she said.

Gud Holdings, situated in Birmingham Road in Willowton, which supplies filters for vehicles, lost nearly R1.5 million during power outages last week.

Human resources manager Rajroshan Seeparsad said the company had experienced frequent power cuts, the latest occurring yesterday and lasting two hours from 6.15am.

“The power cuts have affected us very badly. We had no power on Monday’s day and night shifts, as well as on Tuesday’s day shift.

“We experience a loss of between R400 000 and R500 000 per shift,” Seeparsad said.

Veness said that businesses in the area were incurring costs by installing generators.

Msunduzi municipal spokesman Brian Zuma said that most of the electrical infrastructure in Pietermaritzburg needed to be replaced and that the municipality was focusing on specific areas.

“The infrastructure in the city fails from time to time because it is old. We have replaced transformers and tried to provide temporary solutions to the power cuts.

“We have already invested R15m to install new electrical infrastructure in Hilton and Sweetwaters.

“Installation will begin in six weeks and we are providing better lines to cater for bigger loads of power in those areas. In the interim, we are meeting with local businesses to seek an immediate temporary solution as replacing the entire infrastructure will be costly,” he said.