Blackouts at least lights up some lives
People eat out 60% more when rolling blackouts reach stages 5 and 6, the report finds.
A single client picks up her order at the Bakehouse in Hazelwood where they only serve takeaways due to lockdown level 4 restrictions, 29 June 2021, Pretoria. Picture: Jacques Nelles
While there is supposedly a silver lining to many a dark cloud, the blackouts imposed by Eskom are helping at least some lucky individuals and companies line their pockets with silver.
As many businesses wonder how they can continue to keep the lights on, there are others that are making financial hay while the sun of opportunity shines.
While the obvious beneficiaries are solar installers and generator, inverter and battery suppliers, restaurants and takeaway outlets benefit when people are unable to cook dinner, while banks and suppliers of alternative energy benefit from increased demand as rolling blackout stages increase for longer.
NOW READ: Cost of rolling blackouts exceeds R1.2 trillion, small business suffers most
Report
According to Discovery Bank’s SpendTrend23 report, SA consumers eat out more so far in 2023 than before the Covid pandemic and all income segments spent more on takeaways and in-restaurant dining. People eat out 60% more when rolling blackouts reach stages 5 and 6, the report finds.
The downside to the upside, though, is that this sort of quick-fix food is not as good as the real, home-cooked stuff – so we could be seeing an increase in diet-related health problems. Then again, there should be quite a bit of work coming in for dieticians…
READ MORE: How Eskom’s rolling blackouts broke us
