CAPE TOWN - Small business owners say the announcement by Eskom of stage 2 load shedding until Saturday will have dire consequences for their livelihoods.
During a media briefing on Tuesday chief operating officer at Eskom, Jan Oberholzer, said generation unpredictability was among the reasons for the blackouts.
“This, in addition to other units that tripped during the weekend, reduced available generation capacity, forcing Eskom to rely heavily on emergency generation reserves to keep the lights on,” said Oberholzer.
Mfuleni fish and chips shop owner Patrick Blayi said the government needed to prioritise the country's economy by dealing with load shedding.
“What worries me about this load shedding is that it affects mostly small business people, whether you are in the suburbs or townships.
“The government talks about growing and supporting small businesses, but we don't see that because they are supposed to avoid this by making sure our businesses are not affected so that they can grow.
“Most of us do not have generators because we have just started our businesses, and that means our products, especially if you work with food, will be affected and that means there is no gain for us.
“If the government is really serious about growing the economy of the country it should come up with a long-term strategy to avoid load shedding. It makes no sense that the most powerful country on the continent is the one that is failing to fix its electricity issue, but the underdeveloped countries are able to maintain their electricity at all times,” said Blayi.
Khayelitsha, Site C salon owner Nambitha Xhego said there should be a relief fund from the government for small businesses during load shedding periods.
“It's stressful to work as a hairdresser during this time because once there is no electricity, that means there are no customers. I remember last time when the country was on stage three or four of load shedding, I would lose customers every day, and some of the customers are impatient because they want their hair done as soon as possible. People would make early appointments and that was putting me under pressure, and I had to refund those whose hair was not done,” said Xhego.
Cape Times