DA investigates impacts of loadshedding
Ward 27 councillor, Martin Meyer, said part of the challenge was that loadshedding put pressure on the city’s aging infrastructure.
DEMOCRATIC Alliance (DA) leader Mmusi Maimane and DA Chief Whip John Steenhuisen learnt firsthand what the impact of loadshedding has had on small businesses in eThekwini during an assessment visit to the city last week.
The DA leaders visited factories in Morningside and the Southgate Industrial Park in Amanzimtoti as well as informal traders at KwaMashu Station.
Maimane and Steenhuisen came face to face with the devastating affects load shedding was having on small and medium businesses who reported losses, and workers reported losing working hours. Some businesses reported damage to machinery and equipment amounting to hundreds of thousands of Rands while traders complained that the loss of electricity impacted on their ability to cook and store goods.
Meanwhile, the DA has proposed that Eskom be split into two parts, generation and supply, and that the ailing state owned enterprise be privatised.
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Maimane said that years of looting at Eskom and the severe loss of critical skills had left the utility in dire straits. Steenhuisen made reference to the R14 trillion loss that had been caused by compounding effects of corruption and loadshedding on the economy.
He said his party’s plan to fix the country’s energy problems was to allow cities and municipalities to buy directly from Independent Power Producers (IPPs). This would end their reliance on Eskom as an unreliable power supplier.
Speaking on issues faced by residents of his ward, Ward 27 councillor, Martin Meyer, said part of the challenge was that loadshedding was putting pressure on the city’s aging infrastructure.
“When the power comes back, quite often almost immediately the substations trip or cables are damaged. In two incidents in Ward 27, one area experienced an outage for 38 hours and another for 72 hours which negatively impacted on residents,” he said.
Meyer said small businesses were adversely affected as generators were costly as well as the diesel needed for it.
“It is difficult for the small and micro businesses to cope. This leads obviously to job loses and loss of opportunities,” he said.
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