- Title: Small business owners count the cost of South Africa's power cuts
- Date: 11th December 2019
- Summary: LIMPOPO, SOUTH AFRICA (FILE) (REUTERS) ESKOM MEDUPI POWER STATION BOARD SIGN READING (English): "WELCOME TO MEDUPI POWER STATION 4TH LARGEST COAL FIRED POWER STATION IN THE WORLD VARIOUS OF EXTERIORS OF POWER STATION JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA (FILE - JULY 30, 2019) (REUTERS) COOLING TOWERS POWER LINES POWER LINE / CARS DRIVING PAST POWER LINE
- Embargoed: 25th December 2019 11:37
- Keywords: Floods Johannesburg South Africa blackout
- Location: PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA, JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA, LIMPOPO, SOUTH AFRICA
- City: PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA, JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA, LIMPOPO, SOUTH AFRICA
- Country: South Africa
- Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Floods
- Reuters ID: LVA002B9J8EVB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: PART QUALITY AS INCOMING
When South Africa suffered unprecedented power cuts this week as flooding slashed thousands of megawatts off an overstretched grid on Tuesday (December 10), bakery owner Maike Vandereydt-Speer was unable to brew coffee, toast sandwiches or even switch on the lights.
One of her two bakeries already has a generator -- which costs at least 3,000 rand ($200) a day to run -- but she had balked at the cost of installing one at the Black Forest bakery in the leafy Johannesburg suburb of Parkmore. Now she is considering it.
"We don't know what the future will bring but it's, it's, very daunting for any business, especially if you are dependent on power as we are," she told Reuters.
Vandereydt-Speer said she loses 1,000 rand a day when there are power cuts.
Economic fallout from the power blackouts is widespread with large-scale mining companies shutting down across South Africa on Monday (December 9), but they are better placed to weather the storm than more fragile smaller businesses.
A week of floods has aggravated problems at state-owned utility Eskom, which has been struggling to keep the lights on since 2008, triggering unprecedented levels of planned power cuts known locally as 'load shedding'.
(Production: Siyabonga Sishi, Onke, Ngcuka, Chiara Rodriquez) - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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