Load-shedding hammers small businesses

Small businesses were hit hard by load-shedding on Wednesday, with one small business owner saying he did not even make R1.

“There is no contingency plan that we can put into place to help us.

“It is also very difficult to have staff here that you have to pay and there is nothing happening for the day,” said Aubrey Forbes, owner of Tiffany’s hair salon in Sophiatown, Johannesburg.

Eskom stated: “As a result of the loss of additional generation, delays in the return to service of units that are on planned maintenance, and limited diesel supply, it has become necessary to implement stage 2 rotational load-shedding from 9am until 11pm in order to protect the power system from total collapse.”

The City of Cape Town said it had been able to mitigate the cuts and had implemented only stage 1 load-shedding.

On Wednesday morning traffic lights were out and several businesses were forced to close shop in Sophiatown and its surrounds.

Unlike larger businesses such as Shoprite and KFC, which use generators, Aubrey Forbes and his employees sat around chatting to kill time until electricity was restored.

“We are so reliant on electricity. If we were informed, we could have made alternative arrangements,” said Forbes.

“We didn’t expect this at all. I don’t really know what this holds for businesses like us.”

Forbes said he had to turn away six customers and had lost the chance to make earnings in all of the cases.

He called on the government to explore other avenues to prevent future load-shedding and its effects, particularly on businesses which could not afford to rely on generators to supply back-up power to keep the lights on and the tills ringing merrily.,

Imrah Ullah, who owns a clothing store, said not one customer came to his shop on Wednesday morning.

“They walk past and see there is no power and don’t even bother coming in. I didn’t even make R1 today,” he lamented.

His equally unhappy brother Waheed Ullah, who owns a cellphone repair and printing store next door, said he had to turn customers away.

Picture: IAVAN PIJOOS LOST: Employees Netheley Amaral and Leeanne Cornelius of Tiffany’s Hair Salon in Sophiatown. Owner Aubrey Forbes said it was painful to see her 'money walk out the door’.