Johannesburg - Themba Limekhaya from Orange Farm, in the south of Johannesburg, is a man who refuses to allow his circumstances to define him. This is the reason he started making pizza from his shack to beat unemployment and stave off poverty.
His Mkhukhu pizza, as his business is known, was an instant hit and had social media abuzz with people coming from as far as Pretoria to sample his culinary creations.
Unfortunately, his dreams of growing his business are under threat as the continuous load shedding makes it tricky for Themba to operate. He uses an electric stove to make his pizza, and the intermittent power cuts affect his production negatively as he continues to lose money.
“This load shedding is ruining everything. Whenever there is load shedding people are unable to cook so they come to me thinking they’ll be able to get food, but I don’t have a woodfire or gas oven so there is nothing I can do”
“I don't want to lie to you it is really hurting my business but now I have no option but to try make other means to keep going,” he said.
Not willing to give up on his business, Themba has tried improvising by using a gas braai to make his pizza but with limited results.
He said ”I tried to make a plan by using a skottel braai. I was not happy with the results because the toppings and cheese come out great, the base is too hard. This is because the cylinder does not have a modulator so it's hard for me to control the intensity of the heat so it burns the base making it too hard to enjoy.”
As things stand Themba has no choice but to work around Eskom’s load shedding schedule which has also proven to be difficult as there are constant adjustments to the load shedding stages.
”Even when you try to plan it’s pointless because one minute it is stage 2 and then next thing you know it has been adjusted to stage 4 and then back to stage 3, so you can never be certain,” said Themba
Themba decries the unwillingness of government funding agencies to assist small businesses such as his.
“I have tried to get funding through various avenues but with no luck. I’ve found ordinary people like philanthropists are more willing to help than the government, which is sad but what can we do?”
“I just need to work hard so that I can buy a gas oven or alternatively a wood fire oven so I can continue to try and grow my brand but I wont give up,” said Themba.
Addressing the issues faced by businesses due to the power cuts, The Black Business Council has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to get rid of Eskom’s top bosses and install people who have the capacity to end load shedding.
The council’s chief executive Kganki Matabane said the rolling blackouts have caused immeasurable damage to the country’s ailing economy, forcing many businesses to shut down.
He called for Eskom chief executive Andre de Ruyter and the chief operating officer Jan Oberholzer to be removed saying they were unfit to be kept at the helm of South Africa’s major energy provider.
“The Black Business Council has noted with dismay and disappointment the lack of urgency by the government to deal with load shedding”
“We once again call on the president to immediately fire the incompetent and non-performing board, CEO and COO of Eskom, who are more focused on promoting solar energy instead of fixing Eskom,” said Matabane.
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