Butcher tells of travails in trying to keep T-bones and chops tasty

SINCE load shedding started over a week ago, turnover at the Meat Us Butchery in Northcliff has fallen by over 50 percent.

“We can still trade, but the perception is you aren’t able to trade so nobody comes,” says owner Moosa Bhayat. “It takes you three times longer to get from point A to point B, so its frustration on the consumer’s side and the traffic they have to sit in during load shedding that impacts my business the most.”

While Bhayat’s business isn’t equipped with a generator, he has top line fridges and freezers to ensure his meat doesn’t go off.

“You’ve got to invest in top of the line fridges and freezers so your meat stays fine. Our fridges stay cold for 12 hours without electricity and our freezers stay cold for 24 hours so that helps.”

For now, load-shedding periods have only lasted four hours. “If it’s longer than that, we are going to start having product integrity issues.”

Although his business is taking a huge knock, Bhayat won’t invest in a generator. “I refuse to buy a generator because it’s cost prohibitive. It will cost me at least R150 000 to install a generator. That takes away from your capital equipment investment, additional staff, and many other things.

“What the government doesn’t realise is that small businesses provide the bulk of the jobs for the country. With load shedding going on right now most of the small businesses are vulnerable and they are the ones that will end up closing and that will add to the unemployment in this country.” He worries about the future.

“The amount of revenue you lose every day for not being able to trade is going to cause the businesses to close.”

Bhayat says the only option for his and many others is to learn to adapt to the changes.

“The problem I have is that Eskom doesn’t give you a full warning so you can plan in advance. There is no consistency, no transparency, and no communication?”