LIMPOPO – Obed Mathoho, the owner of Bread World Bakery in Sibasa that bakes bread, rolls, scones and cakes among others, says life as a business owner has become tough in the times of load-shedding, and he is running out of options.
“Soon, I would have to let some workers go, or close down my business for good.”
Mathoho says an enterprise such as his needs a constant supply of electricity.
“We first heat the ovens and to produce the first loaves of bread takes roughly three hours. With stage four or five load-shedding, we normally produce dough bread. We currently have a lot of waste and are forced to dump this.”
Mathoho says the bakery doesn’t have the capacity to purchase a generator.
“Before load-shedding, the bakery made around R13 000 a day. Our production has been reduced to only R3 000 a day, and this spells trouble for a businessman such as myself, who has rent to pay too.”
Recuperating his losses is not an easy feat, as he cannot simply start charging exorbitant prices for his break, says Mathoho.
“Customers won’t buy the bread and my business will have to close down. It has truly become difficult to pay rent and salaries. We appeal to government to think of some sort of subsidy until the load-shedding issue in the country has been resolved.”
One of the workers, Forget Mbedzi said he was happy when he was employed to bake bread in the confectionery and being able to put food on the table for his family.
“If I were to lose my job, it would be a nightmare for my family and I.”
