DURBAN Chamber of Commerce – Western Area Forum hosted a western area electricity stakeholder engagement meeting at the Premier Hotel in Pinetown on Wednesday, 5 August.
The meeting was aimed at helping to find the middle ground between load shedding versus business interests.
Abrie Cronjé, eThekwini Municipality engineer, gave an insightful presentation on how the electricity load is shed throughout the western area.
“Load shedding is a painful yet necessary decision to protect the electricity power system,” said Cronjé.
Complaints and suggestions were made concerning the power outages, and some business owners applauded the municipality for its considerations to businesses and industrial areas.
Residents questioned why their areas are shed more than businesses, and Cronjé said that is because it takes residents less time to recover after load shedding, while businesses might have to wait another hour before all systems recuperate and they can work normally.
Cronjé ended with stating that the sad reality is that load shedding will continue for the next three to five years.
