GEORGE NEWS - With load shedding here to stay for the foreseeable future, business owners are forced to either fork out and invest in costly generators, or, as is the case with many small businesses, face losing out each time the power is cut.
"If load shedding continues along the current trend, it will destroy business. The effect it has on our business is extremely worrisome," says Koos Botha, owner of Botha & Barnard furniture factory.
Botha says they do not have the option of acquiring a viable back-up system. "Our usage (R116 000 per month) is just too much and the amount of generators needed will not be cost-effective. At our other arm, G&K Holdings, operations are based on high turnover and low profit, so a loss in productivity has an even greater effect."
George Chamber President Dr Willie Cilliers also expressed concern over the effect of blackouts. He says manufacturing companies are forced to acquire generators, otherwise they develop backlogs and they never catch up. Salaries have to be paid, whether employees work or not.
"Office services are also a major sector in George and are mostly internet based. When the power shuts down, these people can do absolutely nothing. Our (auditing) office is now looking to buy a ge-nerator for R200 000, otherwise we cannot render a service. Eventually, the consumer will end up paying for the additional cost of providing for back-up power," says Cilliers.
Afrikaanse Handelsinstituut (AHI) CEO Christo van der Rheede says the country lost between R80-billion and R100-billion in gross domestic product in the past year due to load shedding. The AHI has now proposed to Eskom that business would be willing to sacrifice some productivity if the power utility launches a comprehensive maintenance programme and completes its power stations. "But they have to give us a set load shedding schedule so that businesses can plan around it. George, for
example, can agree to shed on a Monday and all businesses close on that day and trade from Tuesday to Saturday."
It has also been suggested that the country be divided into different time zones to alleviate pressure on the grid, but Van der Rheede says this would be too complicated to implement.
Garden Route Mall
Rion Olivier, manager of the Garden Route Mall, says they have been fortunate to date. "In November we shed in the mornings between 08:00 and 10:30, softening the impact on our retailers. Our foot count increased by 3% and turnover grew by 12,7% for that specific month. Our conclusion is that shoppers' shopping routines adjust to the load shedding times.
Currently, 36 tenants carry on trading during load shedding in stage 1 and 3 and these are announced in the mall over a public address system.
For the George Hospital where life and death often depends on power supply, four 250KVA ge-nerators keep things up and running during a blackout and there is therefore a significant cost implication, says CEO Michael Vonk. Each of the four generators uses approximately 40 litres of diesel per hour when running under load.
The generators are programmed to switch on automatically in the event of a power interruption and take about 15 seconds for power to be restored. All essential services are connected to the generators and the important equipment is also connected via UPS to ensure an uninterrupted supply.
NMMU
Load shedding costs the NMMU George Campus about R5 000 per week, depending on the number of hours of the interruption, according to Alet van Tonder, manager of marketing and corporate relations, but they view this additional outlay as "an investment in the future leaders of the country".
ARTICLE AND PHOTO: ALIDA DE BEER, GEORGE HERALD JOURNALIST
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