Cape Town - The Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry and The South African Informal Traders Association (Saita) have lashed out at Eskom for the frequent load shedding, saying it has a negative impact on their livelihood.
Residents were warned on Sunday to be prepared for extended periods of darkness with Eskom teetering on the brink of Stage 4 load shedding this week.
“Load shedding will be unavoidable in the coming week. There is a likelihood that we could implement Stage 4 to Wednesday,” Eskom spokesperson Andrew Etzinger said.
“We appeal to residents and businesses to use electricity sparingly in this period. Please switch off geysers as well as all non-essential lighting and electrical appliances,” Etzinger said.
Chamber of Commerce president Geoffrey Jacobs said: “When we have these unplanned load sheddings, it has a massive impact on these small businesses.”
“It’s unacceptable and it has a negative impact on our economy. It concerns us that most of these outside investors will not invest in our country because of load shedding,” he said.
Saita acting president Rosheda Muller said: “This affects the livelihoods of our vendors, in particular our food vendors, who are unable to operate because of load shedding. We are worried because this will lead to job losses and more poverty.”
Eskom implemented Stage 4 load shedding over the weekend till 11pm, and again on Monday.
In a statement on Sunday night, Eskom also said "up to Stage 4 load shedding will be implemented [on Tuesday]. This is due to a shortage of capacity".
The power cuts are due to a decline in water reserves used to supplement generation capacity. It said that it needed to manage its diesel and water resources to reduce load shedding in the week ahead.
Also, the blackouts are due to the loss of capacity, including electricity imports from Mozambique affected by tropical cyclone Idai.