The finance agency of the department of small business development says the results of a snapshot survey conducted last year provided “a good indication of how the various clients have been affected by load-shedding and how they are coping with it”.
It took an average of nine minutes for small business owners to complete the survey, according to the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (Sefa).
The findings of the survey, which include that “most businesses are highly reliant on electricity for their operations”, are being used as the basis for developing an energy relief package for the sector on the instruction of small business development minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams.
According to Ndabeni-Abrahams’ spokesperson McIntosh Polela, the minister issued the instruction to her department’s agencies at the height of stage 6 load-shedding last week to urgently work on an energy relief package for the sector.
Polela said the aim was to find immediate solutions that could be urgently effected to avoid disastrous consequences, such as closure of small businesses and job losses in the SMME sector — which have already happened. He said the details of the package, the criteria and avenues for the application for the relief would be announced soon.
Earlier this week, Sowetan highlighted the plight of small businesses across the country that have suffered under the increased stages of load-shedding, with many running at a loss, while others were considering closing until the power crisis is resolved.
Sowetan’s story sparked a public outcry and highlighted the devastation that has been left by rolling blackouts to the economy.
President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday cancelled his trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, citing the deepening energy crisis. Ramaphosa met with political parties in parliament, Eskom management and other stakeholders this week to discuss the situation.
On Monday afternoon, Eskom announced stage 4 load-shedding would be implemented from 5am to 4pm on Tuesday, followed by stage 5 load-shedding from 4pm to 5am.
Sefa head of communications Nothemba Gqiba said the research unit of the agency conducted a closed study among Sefa clients in August 2022 with the results announced in October.
The study’s key findings according to Polela were that:
- Most respondents indicated that they were highly reliant on electricity for their operations.
- About 71% of respondents indicated that they were negatively impacted by load-shedding.
- The majority of the respondents would require an alternative power source to continue with their operations.
“This was a dipstick exercise aimed at ascertaining the impact of load-shedding to develop support measures for clients and reduce the burden.
“It was a short survey, therefore, on average most clients completed the survey within nine minutes,” Gqiba said.
“The focus of the research was to ascertain whether Sefa direct lending clients had access to alternative technology solutions that are in the market... the research helped to ascertain the diverse needs to be responded to accordingly.”
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