Load shedding left businesses in the dark

Restaurants and galleries in and around the city were left reeling after load shedding plunged the city into a state of darkness.

This after Eskom made an announcement on Thursday morning about an emergency power cut that was set to take place.

A representative from Constitutional Hill, Kgabo Maribana, said the load shedding had a grave impact on the centre and affected their business for almost four hours.

“We were unaware that there would be load shedding, otherwise we would have made the necessary arrangements,” she said.

Maribana further said that planned exhibitions had to be cancelled and events booked in their conference rooms had to be postponed.

She also added that because ConHill hadn’t received prior notification, staff had to wait until power was restored.

Meanwhile Angelo Aquilano, of Angelo’s Deli, said that load shedding did not affect his restaurant even though it occurred in Linden.

“The load shedding began at 5.30p.m and by that time my restaurant had already closed, so we managed to survive the impact,” Aquilano said.

He added that despite not being affected by load shedding on Thursday, it would affect his business next week as he will be unable to extend his operating hours on Thursdays.

The Bioscope and Standard Bank gallery remained unaffected.