This comes after South Africans reiterated their concerns with loadshedding and the effects thereof. 

Roelie van Reenen, supply chain executive at Beefmaster Group, shares that the business was negatively affected by loadshedding in the last decade.  

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He told OFM News that in a bid to keep the plant operational and minimise downtime during power interruptions, they have invested in generators, which produce more than 2mva in Kimberley in the Northern Cape.

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Beefmaster Group employs more than 600 people from the Kimberley area, and Van Reenen says that prolonged periods of downtime have the potential to threaten the livelihoods of the group’s employees if it had not invested in an alternative power supply such as generators.  

“In addition, we are reliant on power to produce food that is safe for consumption - it is non-negotiable. Yet, power disruptions threaten our food health and safety credentials, so we cannot afford to be affected. 

"There was simply no other option but to incur costs of additional power so that we could keep operating.”

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In light of this, Van Reenen states that the president’s new plan will have major spin-offs for businesses in Kimberley as it will incentivise individuals and/or the private sector to produce electricity and to be more self-sustainable. 

“But also within the country and the agricultural industry at large, the incentive programme will be for companies to assist with our constraints, and then, in turn, assist Eskom with additional power being supplied from the private sector,” explains Van Reenen.

Ramaphosa announced government's plans to get rid of loadshedding in July this year after he visited some of Eskom's power stations. His proposed plans included the following: 

• Improving the performance of Eskom’s existing fleet of power stations;
• Accelerate the procurement of new generation capacity;
• Massively increase private investment in generation capacity;
• Enable businesses and households to invest in rooftop solar; and
• Fundamentally transforming the electricity sector and positioning it for future sustainability.

ALSO READ: Ramaphosa negotiates with Botswana for Eskom to import electricity

Meanwhile, Kulani Siweya, an agricultural economist at Agri SA, previously shared with OFM News that the organisation is still concerned as there is no clarity as to how these plans will impact the agricultural sector at this point.

“An estimated 25% of the country’s food production is reliant on irrigation and energy-intensive industries. Alleviating load-shedding is therefore a vital concern for the agricultural sector. The implementation of the president’s plan will thus be crucial to ensuring South Africa’s food security," said Siweya.

During his address, Ramaphosa emphasised that the country’s electricity crisis requires that the country should take “bold, courageous and decisive action to close the electricity gap.

“This is a call for all South Africans to be part of the solution; to contribute in whatever way they can to ending energy scarcity in South Africa.”

OFM News