Durban - The festive season is approaching and with load shedding expected, shopping malls across KwaZulu-Natal are concerned as most don’t have back-up generators.
With the countdown in full swing, some shops were left red-faced when the lights went out at some of the more prominent malls this weekend.
Megacity in KwaMashu and the Ballito Lifestyle Centre struggled considerably.
“We are definitely badly affected by load shedding although we can’t quantify the loss in monetary terms,” said Dr Feysel Potgieter, the Mega-City centre manager.
“We wish there could be better communication from the eThekwini Metro and Eskom.
“For example, yesterday we had no electricity from 6pm to 8pm, and today we didn’t have from 8am to 10am.”
Potgieter added that the centre had balked at the cost of buying generators, but was looking into them for the future.
”The centre only has generators to cover minimal electricity supplies for essential services, but some individual stores have their own.
“Should the load shedding situation continue, we would have to make a plan.”
At the Ballito Lifestyle Centre on the North Coast management at the Beira Alta restaurant said the mall had been hard-hit by load shedding in recent times.
”It’s got so bad we have had to invest in our own generator because although most restaurants run on gas, we still have equipment that needs power,” manager Carlo Ferreira said.
“Unfortunately, with a generator there are certain high-voltage devices that can’t be run, like your coffee machine and chip fryer.
“It’s hard because customers don’t understand when there’s a problem.
“They’re paying a premium to eat at the restaurant and they get disappointed when they don’t get what they expect.”
He said load shedding in other parts of Ballito didn’t necessarily mean a boost in revenue for the restaurants in the area.
“Sure, a lot of people would need to go out to get food but it doesn’t mean they’re going to go to restaurants. They would, in most cases, go to fast-food places or buy pre-cooked meals at supermarkets.
“Also, things are tough at the moment and people would not have necessarily budgeted for an unexpected meal.”
Gateway Theatre of Shopping appears to be hard-hit. While the mall management could not comment officially, the centre experienced load shedding on Saturday which saw many shops close for two hours in the afternoon. Only major retailers, such as Edgars, Woolworths and Checkers have their own generators and remained open.
While Galleria Arbour Town near Amanzimtoti only has generators for common areas in the malls, such as walkways, overhead lighting and emergency services, they said that a number of large stores such as Woolworths, Checkers, Game, the Edgars Group stores and Dischem had their own generators.
“Business will continue even if the area does experience load shedding,” said operations manager Dewald Breytenbach.
He said that load shedding wasn’t all doom and gloom as the mall had also noticed increased foot traffic during load shedding in nearby residential areas.
“The mall has been busy during load shedding, particularly at restaurants and take-away outlets. We find more people coming for supper if there is load-shedding in the evenings,” said Breytenbach.
At the Pavilion, load shedding affected the smaller retailers who did not have generators or alternative sources for drawing power.
However, this is limited to a few tenants as most major and national stores have generators, according to general manager Nisha Kemraj.
She said that load shedding in the area had seen an increase in foot traffic in the mall. “There has been an increase in the foot count in the food court and the assumption is that families are attracted to this area during residential load-shedding.”
Others, luckily, have not been affected.
“Since the implementation of load shedding in October, Chatsworth Centre has not been affected by the planned power cuts. It has been business as usual for the centre,” said Nishtha Sanuchar, the centre manager.
Vusi Hamese, technical manager at Liberty Midlands Mall in Pietermaritzburg, said they had also noticed an increase in foot traffic during residential load-shedding in the area.
He added that despite not being affected recently the mall was prepared for the busy festive period.
“We had problems with load shedding previously, but nothing recently. Even if we experience load shedding in the run up to Christmas, we are prepared. We have 100 percent back-up generators for all 163 stores at the mall. People will still be able to shop even if the lights go out,” said Hamese.
An employee based at centre control at the Newcastle Mall said that the mall had not recently been affected by load shedding.
“We haven’t had any problems. We have had lights. The last time we had load shedding, or no lights, was maybe two months ago.”
He could not say if there were any contingency plans in place if the mall was hit by load shedding during the festive season.
- Sunday Tribune