Businesses in South Africa will benefit from load shedding alleviation

The Department of Small Business Development is collaborating with partners to develop an energy relief package for Small, Medium, and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) in order to mitigate the destructive impact of load shedding on small enterprises.

SMMEs are especially heavily effected by ongoing power outages since many cannot afford alternate power sources such as generators. During load shedding, they are obliged to halt trade. As a result, several small companies resort to selling perishable commodities like meat and vegetables at low costs to keep them from spoiling, reducing their much-needed income.

This has motivated Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, Minister of Small Business Development, to engage with her team to develop measures to decrease the impact of load shedding on small enterprises.

The Minister has directed the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) and the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (sefa) to work on an energy relief package with various partners inside and outside of government.

“Our aim is to find immediate solutions that can be urgently effected to avoid disastrous consequences, such as closure of small businesses and job losses in the SMME sector. This sector is still recovering from the ruinous effects of COVID-19. We cannot afford losing more businesses and jobs,” Ndabeni-Abrahams said on Tuesday.

SEFA performed a study on the impact of load shedding on its sponsored clients, with the following significant findings:

• Most respondents indicated that they are highly reliant on electricity for their operations;
• About 71% of respondents indicated that they are negatively impacted by load shedding; and
• The majority of the respondents will require an alternative power source to continue with their operations.

The contents of the package, as well as the requirements and routes for applying for relief, will be disclosed soon.