Local businesses bear the brunt of power woes
He further said they are in support of the High Court ruling made on May 9 of that some areas should be spared of load shedding.
Ekurhuleni businesses have been hit hard and the economy continues to suffer due to the electricity crisis.
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The situation has grown worse with load-shedding. Wadeville businesses are voicing their concern about their struggling operations.
In March, Wadeville businesses on Immelman Road were without power for two weeks and again for the first two weeks of May.
These seven business owners told GCN they received no communication nor explanations about power cuts.
Many have lodged calls and obtained reference numbers, but feel this process delivers no results.
Load-shedding and power outages have cut business hours and production and reduced income.
Some businesses also had to spend large amounts on alternative power sources while others cannot afford these additional costs.
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“We have clients who depend on us and we must find ways to ensure we deliver. We are trying to survive and make sure we don’t lose clients.
“We depend on a generator to keep the work going,” said an executive director at Nordbak, Mark Beyl.
Nordbak has spent R118 770 on diesel to power their generator. They needed 800l every 40 hours to keep it running during the most recent electricity downtime.
Businesses agree generators are the most prevalent alternative energy source.
However, often these businesses require industrial generators, which will increase the costs of running them.
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Business owner Lawrence Kau said the power outage has resulted in them already losing clients because they could not meet their agreements.
“We are operating at a loss. Our workers come in and do nothing because most of our work depends on machinery.
“We don’t know when the power will come back or when we will have outages. We are unable to plan accordingly,” said Kau.
The business owners said shedding jobs will soon be a reality as load-shedding. Power outages have increased operating costs, resulting in loss of revenue and declining margins, affecting profitability.
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The seven Wadeville businesses that met with GCN employ about 1 000 people.
Germiston businesses
A business in Germiston, Diesel-Electric Reef has suffered the same fate.
They had been without power for more than 21 days at the time of our going to print. The branch manager said they were the only business in the street without power and did not know why.
“We lodged a call on the first day of the power outage and have been following up, but with no luck or solid reasons on why we are off. No one has been able to assist us,” said David Washer from Diesel-Electric Reef.
He said the business has been in the same building since 1962 and continues to pay municipal services on time but the City of Ekurhuleni is failing to deliver.
“We pay our bills because if you don’t, the city is quick to cut off your power. They are not quick to assist us when we have no power – even when we have paid,” said Washer.
“We now have to spend extra money for a generator. It is not cheap running a generator the whole day but we have no choice. We need to deliver what our clients expect from us,“ said Washer.
His business employs about 31 people.
GCN spoke to MMC of Finance Nkululeko Dunga about the impact of load-shedding and power outages on businesses in Ekurhuleni.
GCN questioned the city’s plans to address the businesses’ dire need for power supply.
“We realise the city has to deal with load-shedding and power outages as it has a dire effect on the economy. We also realise we need to put measures in places where we can place temporary transformers or mini-substations in the area while we deal with the problem,” said Dunga.
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He said they are in support of a High Court ruling made on May 9 that identified areas should be spared of load-shedding.
An enquiry was also sent to the city spokesperson Zweli Dlamini on May 17 and requested comment by May 19. At the time of going to print, no comment had been received.
