The Durban South Business Forum (DSBF) and Afrikaanse Handelsinstituut (AHI) urge local business owners to join forces to find a solution to load shedding.
“Load shedding is having a severe impact on the business community in South Africa and especially in our own community and local bussiness, where serious losses are suffered when this type of mechanism of power-saving is implemented by Eskom without evaluating or revisiting the actual impact it has on business and associated communities,” said president of DSBF and chairman of AHi KwaZulu-Natal, Aart Verrips.
He was responding to last week’s article in the Sun where chairman of the Prospecton Business Forum, Mark van Wyk warned that Durban South businesses are being hard hit by load shedding and a solution needs to be found to make them sustainable.
“Acknowledging the crisis situation that we are currently in, and will be in for at least the next three to five years, we have to develop a culture of being part of the solution, instead of being part of the problem – reality is that this problem is not going to go away soon,” said Verrips.
The AHI to date has engaged in several work sessions with Eskom and government to establish alternatives, and possible solutions to the current electricity crisis situation in South Africa, but Verrips warned there is still a long, hard and rocky road ahead before a solution is found.
“We as DSBF, representing organised business in the Amanzimtoti area through the AHi national structures, engage to ensure that this crisis situation gets the necessary attention up to the Eskom CEO and highest government levels on a continuous basis and we will apply more pressure now and in years to come,” he said.
“We urge local business and community members to join the DSBF with the AHI in this quest to bring solutions forward that can and will make an positive impact on the short and long-term.
The AHi has established a specialist helpdesk to assist us as local business and to make our voice heard, but more so to table solutions. Your positive inputs will help the AHI, DSBF, local bussiness, Toti and surrounding communities to be a better place. We can only make a difference when we tackle this crisis situation as a team.”
Contact Verrips via email at aart@dsbf.co.za, or inbox him on the DSBF Facebook page.
