Actress and singer Simz Ngema took to Instagram to voice her frustrations over the energy crisis in South Africa. The popular media personality was inspired to speak up after watching her friend struggle to power his small business during loadshedding. Loadshedding remains a frustration for many South Africans, but small businesses in particular face devastating losses and challenges. Simz did not hold back as she criticised the government for not addressing these challenges. Here’s what she said.
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SIMZ NGEMA ADDRESSING ENERGY CRISES
In her Instagram reel shared on Tuesday, Simz Ngema stated that the government is failing to address the energy crises. In her video, which has over 137,000 views, began with her voicing her frustrations after visiting her friend’s hair salon.
“I went to my friend’s salon to do my hair and there was load shedding. I watched him struggle to get fuel for his generator,” she said. She added that her friend was trying to make a living for himself, rather than relying on opportunities from the government: “He’s not waiting for opportunities from the government, yet the government is failing.”
Simz highlighted that the government is focused on campaigning, rather than focusing on giving South Africans hope that loadshedding is really going to end. “All we want is for the government to supply citizens with the electricity that they are paying for. Yes, these conversations are boring…but we need to have these conversations to hold our government accountable.”
Her video received positive and controversial feedback from her followers who also aired their views on loadshedding. While some agreed with Simz that the government needs to address the energy crises among small businesses, others focused on voting for next year’s election.
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LOADSHEDDING’S IMPACT ON SMALL BUSINESS
Several studies have shown that loadshedding has impacted small businesses in South Africa. Townships and rural communities are the most affected as they have limited access to alternate sources of energy to fuel businesses. The ‘Impact of loadshedding on small businesses in the township economy 2023 report’ stated that 64% of small business have to halt their business operations during loadshedding.
The report also states that loadshedding not only affects business, but also the mental health and resilience of business owners. Loadshedding is currently suspended to Friday after a week of increased generation capacity, with Stage 3 being implemented from 16:00 until 05:00 on Friday.