Gauteng Premier David Makhura and independent power producers (IPPs) must step up to rescue the province from the relentless bouts of loadshedding that are hammering business productivity.
This was the call by Patrick Atkinson, Democratic Alliance spokesperson for finance and e-government in Gauteng as Stages 6 and 5 loadshedding enveloped the province along with the rest of the country this week. Atkinson said the loadshedding was causing severe financial losses to businesses and could eventually lead to job losses as trade activity and revenues declined.
He called for Makhura and provincial leaders to engage with independent power producers in the province to help find a lasting solution.
“The Gauteng government must go against the grain as set by the failing national government and do all that it can to ensure that we save jobs and ignite new energy into the economy, by providing uninterrupted, reliable electricity to residents and businesses,” Atkinson said.
“Many businesses in Gauteng are suffering major financial losses because of the latest round of rolling blackouts implemented by Eskom across the country. Currently, stage 5 load-shedding is under way, which means that some businesses will be without electricity for at least eight hours a day. This is a full work day, which means that businesses are only able to trade for a few hours at a time,” Atkinson said.
He said the current number of 2 515 000 unemployed Gauteng residents was expected to increase by the end of the year because of load-shedding.
“According to some businesses the DA interacted with this week, they have lost about a third of their revenue, which is not enough for them to be profitable over the last four days alone. No electricity means no trade, which in turn means that businesses are unable to break even so that they can at least pay their employees’ salaries on time. If the current electricity situation continues, both big and small businesses may be forced to retrench staff in a bid to keep their heads above water,” said Atkinson.
He said the only solution was a political will to decrease the province’s reliance on Eskom by making use of IPPs.
President Cyril Ramaphosa earlier cut his working trips to the United States and the United Kingdom short to return home to deal with the country’s energy crisis.
