Load-shedding has a farther reaching impact

Numerous companies in the Lowveld are seriously considering closing their business and retrenching their staff. This is a scary reality facing the City due to the massive electricity crisis experienced countrywide, said Linda Grimbeek, COO of the KLCBT.

Not only is the City struggling with an outdated and mostly non-functional electricity supply network, but the current load-shedding caused by Eskom is not helping at all, she said.

“We have had many members and businesses approaching us with the unfortunate news that they cannot sustain their companies any longer,” said Grimbeek.

“One of the big companies this week indicated to me that they are considering retrenching all 300 of their staff and closing shop. “The electricity supply crisis is an incredibly sad situation that could drag the economy, already struggling to recover after the Covid-19 pandemic, down even further. “Currently, many companies have already started retrenching staff and we fear the number of job losses could even be greater than during the pandemic.”

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The unreliable electricity network, added upon the constant blackouts from Eskom, is causing havoc in the Lowveld and the area of responsibility of the municipality. One of the major crises residents and companies alike are experiencing with the power supply, is mostly of their own doing. This is the view expressed by an electrical engineer with intimate knowledge of the City’s electrical network, who wished to remain anonymous.

“When power failures in the City happen, combined with the constant countrywide blackouts from Eskom, all hell breaks loose when the power eventually comes back on. “This is due to the sudden spike in electricity to the maximum demand available to the City’s network. The high demand is caused by, among others, geysers, air conditioners, fridges, deep freezers, and other electricity gluttons that come back online,” he said.

According to him, this situation is worsened when Eskom implements stage 6 power outages.

“Companies are not geared to manage the nine-to-10 hours long Eskom power cuts. Especially companies and businesses in the bigger centre in the city that do not have generators. “Most of these companies are only prepared for two- or three-hour electricity losses.”

Companies with generators do not always have enough petrol or diesel supplies to keep their generators running for hours at a time. Grimbeek said residents can play a bigger role to alleviate overloading the systems by turning off items such as geysers, air conditioners and other electrical equipment.

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“Wait until the network is stabilised before turning these items on again,” she said. Grimbeek said the KLCBT is constantly monitoring the problems experienced by their members. They will then intervene by negotiating with the municipality to find amicable solutions.

“There are various banks and solar suppliers who are making it possible to lease a ‘green option’ instead of spending a large amount of cash to have a system installed.”

The municipality faces a new problem during power blackouts. According to the police, a new tendency is the theft of cables. Thieves know when a certain area will have power outages, which is when they steal cables. The City of Mbombela currently still owes Eskom about R700m.