We are choking amid load-shedding and there's no government help: small businesses

Rifqah Abraham’s print and branding business took a knock after it had to close for three months during Covid-19 lockdowns.

Then in July, as the Cape Town-based business was trying to recover from the pandemic, it took another battering when Eskom introduced high-level blackouts. This resulted in President Cyril Ramaphosa announcing government interventions that would establish a competitive electricity market and increase SA's investment in renewable energy.

When Eskom implemented stage 6 blackouts this month, Abrahams said the business she co-owns was “caught between a rock and a hard place”. Load-shedding halted operations and drove clients away.

“Because we are in the print industry, we can't do anything without electricity. We do printing for a lot of businesses and corporates, but the moment load-shedding starts, there is always an immediate downturn in business as companies cancel functions because they are worried about load-shedding.”

During the July load-shedding crisis, the business lost 50% of its revenue. Now the mother of two fears for the future of her business should the rolling blackouts continue.

“Every other day of this week, apart from Wednesday, we’ve been working half-day due to rolling blackouts. It’s been crazy ... it’s like you are constantly fighting to get things done, meet deadlines and not lose customers.”

“It's so stressful and as a small business we can't afford generators and [inverters] because they are so expensive, especially considering our business is still trying to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Despite the role her company plays in boosting the economy, Abrahams says she feels isolated and unsupported.

“We have to fend for ourselves ... we are choking in this economy and there is no support for small business from local or national government. We are on our own. We don’t know how much longer we can hold on, given the impact of load-shedding.”

For tax practitioner Charity Gwaidza, whose work depends on an internet connection, load-shedding has been a major drawback.

For the past two weeks she’s been losing an average of six hours a day. Working after hours to catch up hasn’t helped and she is losing clients.

“Clients don’t care about your problems, they expect you to deliver. The turnaround time to do this determines whether they will take your [services] or go to the next person. So load-shedding has negatively affected my business.”

Avuma Goniwe, who is studying accounting science online through Unisa, said she almost missed an assignment deadline this week due to load-shedding.

“Most of my modules are online and all my submissions are online. I rely on Wi-Fi to go through my study material. Load-shedding has affected my schedule and ability to submit on time. On Tuesday my deadline was 7pm. I had to drive to my aunt’s place to use her Wi-Fi and submit as I had load-shedding in my area.

“This is a serious issue for everyone, especially for businesses that rely on electricity to survive. My mom is a fashion designer and relies on it to make garments. Yesterday she had nine hours of load-shedding. This causes a delay in completing her orders and frustration with her clients.”

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