The ongoing power cuts has once again fuelled anger among community members and small businesses owners.
The power utility, Eskom, announced at the beginning of this week that it would be implementing stage 6 load-shedding, with varying stages being implemented during the week.

Eskom said this was due to the generation capacity shortages that had persisted over the past few weeks.

Load-shedding was escalated from stage 4 during the past weekend to stage 6 this week, a move that saw small and township businesses closing shops, leaving them without an income. Many citizens are complaining that when the power returns, it damages some of their electronic devices, such as refrigerators, microwaves and TVs.

The biggest damage caused by the constant cuts is fires erupting in houses, allegedly when the power returns. Such incidents have been reported in areas like Matsulu, Mganduzweni, Nkomazi and Tekwane South.

The small and medium business sector is one of the hardest hit by Eskom’s load-shedding and load reduction. Businesses such as barber shops, hair and beauty salons, township bakeries, internet services and fast-food outlets have all been forced to shut their doors.

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“We are forced to close shop until we know for certain there will not be any more power cuts. What is even more worrying and disturbing is the fact that we are renting the spaces we use, and the landlords expect something at the end of the month. This is really killing us,” said Jimmy Khoza, who runs a barbershop in Pienaar, Emoyeni.
Mary Nkosi, who runs a fast-food joint in KaNyamazane, said she has lost money and clientele due to stage 6 load-shedding.

“Stage 6 load-shedding is not shedding at all, we are literally back in the dark days,” said Nkosi. “I am not only losing a chance to make money to feed my family and pay for my children’s education, I am losing clientele as well since they don’t have faith in me to deliver. Remember, customers don’t care about our excuses, they expect service from us, and it’s difficult, because unlike big businesses, we do not have generators to keep the lights and stoves on.”

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On Monday afternoon, Eskom announced that it would reduce the load-shedding to stage 5 at midnight on Tuesday.

The power utility said it managed to return some units at various power stations to service overnight. The utility’s spokesperson, Sikonathi Mantshantsha, said they would inform the country when the situation changed.
“Overnight, a generation unit each at Kempton, Kriel and Kusile power stations were returned to service. But unfortunately, another unit developed a boiler tube leak and was taken offline for repairs,” said Mantshantsha.