‘Eskom is sabotaging us’ businesses say
Locals claim that Eskom is using load-shedding to force Nersa to approve the huge increases for which they asked.
MBOMBELA – Load-shedding is bringing the already pressured local economy to its knees.
“It is a total disaster with enormous consequences,” said Henri Pieters of Stabilis Inc.
“It affects absolutely everybody all the time and everyone is angry.
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“After-hours are bad enough, and of course the traffic jams, but during business hours everything slows down – something no business can afford in these economic times.”
Pieters explained the conundrum each business is faced with: to run a generator costs thousands of rand a day, but without an alternative electricity source one might lose business or fall behind and need to catch up after-hours, which carries additional costs. It is a lose-lose for everyone.
“Nobody can really afford it and small businesses cannot carry the losses. This is down to poor management. Eskom is sabotaging businesses.”
Last year Eskom applied for a 19,9 per cent average increase in electricity tariffs from the the National Energy Regulator of South Africa.
It was granted only a 5,23 per cent increase for 2018/19.
Now it has applied for a 15 per cent increase for three years from 2019 until 2022.
“It appears as if Eskom wants to force Nersa to approve the huge increases, which will definitely have a more serious impact on the growth of our economy.”
READ MORE: Local businesses the big losers of load-shedding
Anna-Marth Ott, chief operating officer of the Middelburg Chamber Commerce and Industry, said Eskom cannot claim that it does not have coal.
“We did an audit. I phoned each and every mine listed in the 200-kilometre area around Middelburg and plotted their GPS coordinates. There are 170 and they are all operational.
“Whether Eskom has problems with supplier contracts or a shortage of money or does not like the coal, I don’t know, but they cannot say there is no coal.”
Linda Grimbeek, chief operating officer of the Kruger Lowveld Chamber of Business and Tourism (KLCBT), said load-shedding will lead to local job losses.
“We do not need to comment on the devastating effects of load-shedding, which will certainly lead to job losses and some business closures.
“We are all in the same boat. We see it around us every day.
“We are deeply concerned about the possibility of unexpected load-shedding and had a discussion with Eskom about that. We would rather be informed and be on a schedule. Surprise blackouts are a much bigger problem.
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KLCBT is distributing regular newsflashes to inform businesses about load-shedding schedules to enable people to plan their days around it. We invite business owners to send handy tips to us for circulation in our newsletters.
“Let us use our creativity and innovation to come up with ideas to maintain productivity under these circumstances.”
Thea Rix, local water and electricity informant, has warned that the load-shedding situation is likely to persist until at least March.
“It is not going to stop. We first got warnings about load-shedding in 1997. Now corruption at Eskom as made the situation so serious, people are going to have to try and get self-sufficient.
“We have to start looking at what we can do differently. People need to prepare themselves. Generators are not practical for everyone, but there are other options such as solar and gas.”
In the meantime, her advice is for people to try and structure their lives according to the daily schedule. “And be absolutely patient.”
• Get your daily schedule daily on Laevelder / Lowvelder or Electricity & Water Information group on Facebook. Direct Eskom clients can view their individual load-shedding schedules on loadshedding.eskom.co.za.
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