Centurion businesses suffer under load-shedding

Load-shedding is forcing some local businesses to close sometimes for up to eight hours, threatening income and livelihoods.

“When I am closed during load-shedding, I lose a lot of money especially during month-end if my clients don’t come to the shop,” said Centurion salon owner Jabu Nobela.

Small businesses employ about eight million South Africans and contribute 40% to the GDP making them the lifeblood of the economy.

“I hardly make ends meet. I must pay rental for my salon and where I live,” Nobela said.

He said landlords didn’t understand the challenges business people face.

“Rent is my biggest concern at this moment. I struggle to pay for both rents. I am even thinking of closing down this shop or going somewhere where I can lease a big house or room for me to survive.”

Marco Schoeman, who runs a printing and laminating business, estimated his loss to load-shedding at around R100 000.

Schoeman said big companies rely on him for printing and lamination but during load-shedding, he struggles to meet demand.

“I am fortunate at this point my clients have been so understanding, but I can’t always give them this excuse. I can’t afford to buy a generator at this point, but I suspect even if I was able to, I wouldn’t be able to afford diesel every week.”

Stefan van der Berg, of ESpress Print and Brand, said load-shedding really affected the business as it relies on electricity.

Van der Berg said his company found it difficult to meet clients’ demands when the municipality and Eskom didn’t keep to the load-shedding schedule.

“I had to place myself under debt review about two weeks ago, and I might even be forced to close my business and sell my machines to provide for my family. My business is still open at this stage,” said Van der Berg.

He said the whole situation affected his mental health as he was constantly under pressure thinking about ways he could save his business and jobs.

“I don’t have a quarter of a million rands to install solar panels to run my business so I need the electricity.”

He said it was ridiculous to raise electricity by 18.65% when there was no guarantee of supply.

According to reports, load-shedding costs the economy over R4-billion a day.

The Department of Small Business Development, with stakeholders, is working on an energy relief package for small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) to alleviate the devastating impact of load-shedding on small businesses.

“SMMEs are particularly hit hard by continued power outages because many cannot afford alternative power sources such as generators. They are forced to pause trading during load-shedding. As a result, some resort to selling perishable goods such as meat and vegetables at low prices to avoid them rotting away, which affects their much-needed income,” the statement read.

Small Business Development Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams said she tasked a team to come up with a solution to lessen the impact of load-shedding on small businesses.

Ndabeni Abrahams also mandated the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) and the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (Sefa) to collaborate with various stakeholders within and outside the government on an energy relief package.

“We want to find immediate solutions that can be urgently effected to avoid disastrous consequences, such as the closure of small businesses and job losses in the SMME sector. This sector is still recovering from the ruinous effects of Covid-19. We cannot afford to lose more businesses and jobs,” the minister said.

*Please note this article has been amended

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