Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
That was the reaction after the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality announced on Wednesday it was introducing new load-shedding schedules from March 2.
The Bay has suffered some of the longest bouts of load-shedding in the country since the municipality first developed the original schedule in 2014.
The new schedules are aimed at lessening the burden on domestic users and start cutting power to industry on stages 5 to 8.
Electricity and energy executive director Luvuyo Magalela said the municipality had spent more than a year planning the new schedule.
Now domestic users will not experience load-shedding for longer than 2½ hours at a time from Monday but industrial areas — which were exempt from blackouts in the past — will be hit with four-hour bouts if Eskom implements stages 5 to 8 load-shedding.
There were mixed reactions on the HeraldLIVE Facebook page.
Kirwan Lundall said: “A bad move. Protect industry by all means, let them produce while we take the few hours of load-shedding.”
Deanne L Stephan wrote: “I have no business, but see how businesses i support in Group 8 suffer. Lorraine becomes like a little ghost town with load-shedding. From a residential point of view, our appliances are taking a beating. Things electrical that are not made to last long anyway in today’s age have an even shorter lifespan. More costs involved. It’s a vicious cycle.”
Danny Eldridge said the announcement was a step in the right direction.
“Will wait and see if they reduce the burden on residents at double and triple the load to the rest of the country. The complaints to the SAHRC and councillors, and pressure from the residents, appear to be paying off,” Eldridge wrote.
Ashwill New felt it was a bad idea.
“Time to double up on security at your house, as this will hinder lots of job losses, and a major dip in the province’s economy,” he wrote.
Colette Rezin wrote: “I respect industries will suffer, but what about the rest of us, we all suffer, [from] our jobs and to the appliances in our homes. Firms would have to retrench their staff, it’s no different to industries in my opinion. Some businesses employ more than industries do, I’m sure.”
Loyd Faku Mzozoyana wrote: Surely these businesses in industrial areas can afford big generators. Other businesses in non-industrial areas have been suffering a lot. Let's all share the misery of load-shedding. It’s not fair that other areas don’t get load-shedding while we all pay rates and taxes.”
Ryno Campher questioned the new schedule.
“Why only from stage 5?” he asked.
“Should be from stage 1. Everyone should get their fair share in PE. I’m in Group 5 and some days we get 10 hours when it’s stage 2 while other areas get none. Not fair!”
What do you think?