Irate business owners in Vulindlela Heights, a small industrial site in Mthatha, have lashed out at municipal bosses for failing to fix the city’s on-going electricity woes.
The group said the situation was costing them hundreds of thousands of rands in potential income.
Mthatha’s erratic electricity supply characterised by regular power blackouts has become a source of discontent among residents despite authorities at King Sabata Dalindyebo (KSD) municipality claiming to have invested millions into fixing the problems.
This included spending at least R13-million on two new transformers about two years ago.
Speaking to the Daily Dispatch yesterday, many angry business owners in Vulindlela Heights warned they were losing clients and revenue due to the ailing power supply.
Last week a number of businesses in the area were reportedly left without power for a number of days. Jeoy Leeson, who runs an engineering services business, attributed on-going power woes to what he termed as “lack of capacity within KSD’s electricity department”.
He estimated that his business was losing around R100000 every day during power outage.
“Everything just comes to a standstill. What is worse is that there is no prior warning or even an explanation whenever there is an outage.” Leeson said although he had bought small back-up generators, they were not able to handle the heavy duty equipment the company used.
“Buying the right kind of generator would cost around R350000, which I don’t have. They need to appoint an electrical engineer to help their electricity department,” he said.
Sherwyn Brauns who manages a panelbeating business warned that many smaller businesses could be forced to close shop if the situation was allowed to continue.
Thanduxolo Dakana, who works for a company that makes cupboards, said they were forced to close for the day whenever there was a blackout as they did not have a generator.
He said they were losing around R70000 a day when there was no power. “Nothing is communicated in advance so that we can make other means,” he said.
KSD spokesman Sonwabo Mampoza had not responded to questions by the time of writing yesterday.
A senior KSD municipal councillor – Pasika Nontshiza – was quoted in a report in the Dispatch last month describing the electricity problem as a crisis.
He put the blame squarely on the shoulders of municipal authorities for failing to maintain and service existing electricity infrastructure. — sikhon@dispatch.co.za
Power outages leave huge losses
The group said the situation was costing them hundreds of thousands of rands in potential income.
Mthatha’s erratic electricity supply characterised by regular power blackouts has become a source of discontent among residents despite authorities at King Sabata Dalindyebo (KSD) municipality claiming to have invested millions into fixing the problems.
This included spending at least R13-million on two new transformers about two years ago.
Speaking to the Daily Dispatch yesterday, many angry business owners in Vulindlela Heights warned they were losing clients and revenue due to the ailing power supply.
Last week a number of businesses in the area were reportedly left without power for a number of days. Jeoy Leeson, who runs an engineering services business, attributed on-going power woes to what he termed as “lack of capacity within KSD’s electricity department”.
He estimated that his business was losing around R100000 every day during power outage.
“Everything just comes to a standstill. What is worse is that there is no prior warning or even an explanation whenever there is an outage.” Leeson said although he had bought small back-up generators, they were not able to handle the heavy duty equipment the company used.
“Buying the right kind of generator would cost around R350000, which I don’t have. They need to appoint an electrical engineer to help their electricity department,” he said.
Sherwyn Brauns who manages a panelbeating business warned that many smaller businesses could be forced to close shop if the situation was allowed to continue.
Thanduxolo Dakana, who works for a company that makes cupboards, said they were forced to close for the day whenever there was a blackout as they did not have a generator.
He said they were losing around R70000 a day when there was no power. “Nothing is communicated in advance so that we can make other means,” he said.
KSD spokesman Sonwabo Mampoza had not responded to questions by the time of writing yesterday.
A senior KSD municipal councillor – Pasika Nontshiza – was quoted in a report in the Dispatch last month describing the electricity problem as a crisis.
He put the blame squarely on the shoulders of municipal authorities for failing to maintain and service existing electricity infrastructure. — sikhon@dispatch.co.za
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending Now
Latest Videos