Durban - As industries and other businesses return to full operations, they are set to feel the impact of ongoing stage 3 and stage 4 load shedding.
An energy expert said on Monday that higher demand for electricity, which is expected due to businesses reopening, could lead to higher load-shedding stages.
David Lipschitz, an energy resilience expert and author of the book The Last Blackout, said the country experienced up to stage 7 load shedding (technically) in 2022, which was a major concern.
“We had stage 3 and stage 4 load shedding in the festive season, when a lot of businesses were closed. Now we can expect the textile and manufacturing industry to start up for 2023 which will undoubtedly lead to an increase in demand for electricity. We can expect a bumpy ride as we will definitely start seeing more load shedding,” he said.
Lipschitz added that there was no end to load shedding in the foreseeable future.
“At the moment the situation is bad, but I do believe we can come out of this if the government can implement the correct policies. All the tools are there. It’s just about having detailed discussions with the right people to solve the problem.”
Melanie Veness, CEO of the Pietermaritzburg and Midlands Chamber of Business, said the ongoing power cuts were destroying businesses and the economy.
“If we have to endure it much longer, then I can assure you that jobs will be lost. All businesses are severely impacted. Most small businesses don’t have generators, so can’t function at all during load shedding. It’s extremely disruptive when we have load shedding every few hours and many of these businesses are still struggling to recover from the impact of Covid-19 and the riots in KwaZulu-Natal.”
Veness said industrialists employing large numbers of people are being severely affected.
Prasheen Maharaj, president of the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said load shedding severely impacted on the economy across crucial economic sectors resulting in the loss of productivity, which inevitably leads to revenue losses and unplanned operational expenditure across industries and their value chains.
“We believe this will negatively impact economic growth prospects, resulting in other risks and threats to businesses such as equipment damage and project delays which can have lasting medium and long-term implications for businesses. It also limits access to the internet which, in a connected world of the internet of things and e-commerce, is devastating.”
Maharaj said the risk of businesses shutting down remained high, looking at all the factors that had been affecting the eThekwini business community for the past three years.
“We believe the continuous implementation of load shedding will have a negative and detrimental impact on small businesses. These businesses are at high risk as they do not have adequate options and measures in place to withstand the impact of load shedding,” he said.
Dr Ntokozo Nzimande, a senior lecturer in the department of economics at UCT, said most businesses were still trying to recover the losses suffered due to the Covid-19 restrictions.
“These disruptions cannot be afforded. And there’s no clear plan to eradicate these electricity shortages.
“This uncertainty also hinders new investments in the country and lowers growth. To prevent a catastrophe, an unemployment crisis, the government should swiftly come up with a clear and implementable way to put an end to load shedding,” Nzimande said.
Economist, Professor Irrshad Kaseeram, of the University of Zululand’s economics department, said over the past six years load shedding had progressively increased in the number of hours.
“Some huge businesses like the mining industry, for example, have switched to their own electricity generation.
“A small percentage of SMMEs have also invested in solar and generators at huge costs, to survive. But there is no plan or time frame for a brighter outlook.”
Kaseeram said South Africa’s productivity (output per hour per worker) would be severely compromised, which would reduce our medium- to long-term growth potential and employment capacity.
Eskom in a notice on Sunday said stage 3 and stage 4 load shedding would be implemented until further notice.
The power utility said breakdowns totalled 17 035MW while planned maintenance took 6 189MW off the grid.