Power cuts hurt small businesses
Eskom’s ongoing emergency load shedding are leaving many enterprises in the dark and unable to do business in the midst of the Christmas shopping rush.
WHILE Richards Bay’s industrial giants have equipped themselves to deal with the current spate of power cuts, it appears that small businesses are bearing the brunt of the national electricity crisis.
Eskom’s ongoing emergency load shedding are leaving many enterprises in the dark and unable to do business in the midst of the Christmas shopping rush.
‘The current economic environment cannot absorb the electricity crisis and the cost of downtime owing to power outages could cripple some businesses,’ said Business Partners Area Manager Thula Mkhwanazi.
‘The extra burden placed on businesses owing to these circumstances is unfortunate and the costs of making alternative arrangements drive the cost of doing business up even further.’
According to Deputy Dean in the Faculty of Commerce Administration and Law at the University of Zululand (Unizul), Irsshad Kaseeram, some business owners should look into investing in other sources of energy supply to keep their doors open as the long-delayed Medupi power station could only go live in June next year.
‘Those SMMEs (small, medium and micro enterprises) where electricity is consumed in vast quantities, like manufacturers, ought to consider finding auxiliary sources of energy, such as generators, as emergency measures,’ said Kaseeram.
‘This is especially important for industries that have supply agreements in place and those who will lose business to competitors who have the advantage of alternative sources of electricity.
‘When deciding to invest in alternative sources of electricity, an SMME must consider the cost benefit of such an investment and a five-year horizon (when electricity supply ought to stabilise) over which the costs are to be recouped.
‘Medupi and Kusile power stations are expected to come on line between June and July and will operate at full capacity in 2018 and 2019 respectively.
‘Until then, SMMEs must brace themselves for sudden and unexpected power outages due to unforeseen maintenance problems and breakdowns like the recent collapse of the Majuba silo,’ Kaseeram said.
