Small business development minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams said she and her team are trying to find solutions aimed at lessening the devastating effect of load-shedding on small businesses.
She said the department’s agencies, the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (Sefa) and the Small Enterprise Development Agency — in consultation with different stakeholders — were urgently working on an energy relief package for the small, medium, informal and micro sectors.
Details of the package, the criteria and avenues for application for the relief will be announced soon.
The department said SMMEs were particularly hit by continued power outages, as many of them paused trading during load-shedding and could not afford alternative power sources such as generators. It said some of the businesses resorted to selling their perishable goods such as meat and vegetables at low prices to avoid rotting. This cut into their income.
Ndabeni-Abrahams said Sefa conducted research on the effect of load-shedding on its funded clients. She said the study showed that most respondents were highly reliant on electricity for their operations, with 71% of the respondents indicating they were hit by load-shedding.
The majority of respondents said they would require an alternative power source to continue with their operations.
“Our aim is to find immediate solutions that can be urgently effected to avoid disastrous consequences, such as closure of small business and job losses in the SMME sector.
“This sector was devastated and is still recovering from the ruinous effects of Covid-19. We cannot afford to lose more businesses and jobs.”
TimesLIVE
Relief ahead for small businesses grappling with load-shedding, says Ndabeni-Abrahams
Image: GCIS
Small business development minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams said she and her team are trying to find solutions aimed at lessening the devastating effect of load-shedding on small businesses.
She said the department’s agencies, the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (Sefa) and the Small Enterprise Development Agency — in consultation with different stakeholders — were urgently working on an energy relief package for the small, medium, informal and micro sectors.
Details of the package, the criteria and avenues for application for the relief will be announced soon.
The department said SMMEs were particularly hit by continued power outages, as many of them paused trading during load-shedding and could not afford alternative power sources such as generators. It said some of the businesses resorted to selling their perishable goods such as meat and vegetables at low prices to avoid rotting. This cut into their income.
Ndabeni-Abrahams said Sefa conducted research on the effect of load-shedding on its funded clients. She said the study showed that most respondents were highly reliant on electricity for their operations, with 71% of the respondents indicating they were hit by load-shedding.
The majority of respondents said they would require an alternative power source to continue with their operations.
“Our aim is to find immediate solutions that can be urgently effected to avoid disastrous consequences, such as closure of small business and job losses in the SMME sector.
“This sector was devastated and is still recovering from the ruinous effects of Covid-19. We cannot afford to lose more businesses and jobs.”
TimesLIVE
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