The ongoing service delivery protests in Komani mobilised residents on Thursday and Friday, but businesses are worried about the affect on shops and offices after they had to close during the widespread civil action.
The protesters said they were fed up with having an intermittent electricity supply for over a month and having to contend with water outages, vandalised facilities and the town’s general decay.
Driving school owner David King, who has lived in Komani for more that three decades, said his business had been badly affected, as he had to buy petrol for the generator.
“The electricity was off since last week Thursday and only came back on this Thursday.
“I spent R1,000 per day, to ensure the two generators ran. The money I spent on petrol could have been used for something else.
“We are not making any profit; we are running at a loss.”
Play school owner Charne Kitching said her business could not function properly due to the power outages.
“We can still cope with load-shedding but with the power outages it is difficult, because we do not know when power will be restored.
“I spend about R600 day to run a generator, so this affects our business.”
Attorney Karel de Waal has run his firm for about 40 years in Komani but these past few years have been challenging for the firm.
“I have not looked at my petrol bill for a few days now, because I do not want to know the amount of money I have lost from sustaining my business.
“People are struggling to sustain their livelihoods, because of the situation we face.”
Chair of Border Kei Chamber of Business in Komani, Lisle Clarke, said they had met the Enoch Mgjima local municipality before the end of 2022 and were promised a follow-up meeting, but nothing had happened as yet.
“We have a meeting planned with the regional Eskom manager and municipality next week.
“The protest had a devastating affect on the economy.
“Protesters threatened and forced all businesses to close their doors,” Clarke said.
Hundreds of frustrated Komani residents have blocked the entrances to the town and are protesting at The Hexagon in the town's centre. Police are trying to disperse the crowds but the disgruntled residents are refusing to budge.
— Dispatch AFRICA (@africa_dispatch) January 26, 2023
#KomaniShutdown pic.twitter.com/eKsJpVYRY8
BKCOB administrator Adré Gainsford-Bartis said businesses had been negatively affected by the electricity outages since October 2022.
“In December they had to battle through stage 6 load-shedding. Businesses had to throw away products that could not be salvaged and also lost appliances.”
They cannot claim from insurance for anything that broke down due to normal Eskom load-shedding regardless of being on stage 6.
Gainsford-Bartis said two businesses in a residential area had to run their generators consistently for four weeks due to the issues mentioned.
On the day electricity was finally restored in the area, protesters forced them to close their business.
“Many small businesses cannot afford generators and have to close their doors during outages.
“Some businesses have decided to leave for areas such as Gqeberha or Bloemfontein.
“Unfortunately this will be the norm for businesses until the infrastructure issues have received a complete overhaul,” she said.
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