By Everson Luhanga
Eskom’s announcement on Sunday of near-permanent load shedding for the next two years was the dreaded moment that many township businesses had feared.
Things are not getting better. They are getting much, much worse.
A chesanyama and tavern business owner in Alexandra, Maimane Alfre Phiri, said this could mean less business for them. The more load shedding there is, the quicker his meat will go rotten. That means buying meat in smaller quantities and more of it going to waste – meaning more money is lost.
“People flock to our place because we serve them with fresh meat and quenching cold beer and cool drinks.
“If our products are not up to standard, people will stop coming and I will have to cut costs by letting other people go. It is the least I can do,” said Phiri.
He also said that it’s sad that the small profit he can make will have to be used to buy and maintain a generator and petrol.
“How can such a small business survive on such big costs?” he wondered.
Eskom board chairperson Mpho Makwana said they wanted to implement permanent stage 2 and stage 3 load shedding over the next 24 months.
The call has not been welcomed by Alex’s businesspeople and households.
Daniel Mapalo, who owns a funeral parlour, said that there is no end to the amount of stress load shedding brings him.
“I have to restructure and engage with my clients on how we will start conducting business. Surely things must change and the traditional way of conducting this kind of business is set to change?
“With these energy changes in our country, we will be forced to do burials more quickly than has been happening previously,” Daniel explained.
“In many parts of the African continent burials happen a day or two after a person passes on, mainly because they don’t have electricity to keep the corpses. I think we are all going there.”
Simon Alaska Sekhitla blamed his frustrations of permanent load-shedding on political leaders.
He said: “There’s nothing much we can do now as citizens.
“The only thing is to go to the polls and vote for leaders who will take the citizens seriously.
“The current leadership is obsessed with their internal issues and nothing for the country.”
