CORONAVIRUS MARIAH CAREY LOCKDOWNUPDATE GOES UNFILTERED LIFE 11 HOTLINE: 0800 029 999 DAY 106 SHOUT SA MORE NAILS IN SUPER DONATES MASKS RUGBY COFFIN METRO 5 SPORT 16 — FOUNDED 1857, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA [ IOL.CO.ZA ] FRIDAY, JULY 10 2020 — ECONOMY WEATHER Power cuts to cripple businesses Load shedding could cost more jobs MARVIN CHARLES nearly four months getting almost [email protected] little to no income. According to Mayco member for THE possibility of load shedding could economic opportunities and asset be the final straw to break the back of management James Vos, the country’s businesses already struggling under economy could be at risk to lose up to the lockdown because of the Covid- R4 billion due to load shedding. 19 pandemic, according to business “The negative impact of load shed- leaders and economists. ding on the economy in Cape Town Eskom announced yesterday that cannot be understated. My mission after a tripped unit at Medupi power is to find ways to make it easier to station was restored to operation, do business in Cape Town and I am one unit at Tutuka power station was deeply concerned about the impact A MAJOR cold front has made landfall in the Western Cape. | HENK KRUGER African News Agency (ANA) yet to be restored as another unit at of these rolling blackouts on SMMEs the same station went down. A third and larger companies especially in generation unit also tripped at Kendal the food and beverage industry and power station. manufacturing sectors,” said Vos. “Any additional breakdowns will He said load shedding could result Havoc halts search for child, rescuer in canal compromise Eskom’s ability to sup- in major job losses. ply the country through the peak “When the power is cut, so are MTHUTHUZELI NTSEKU N2, near Somerset West. demand period of 5pm to 9pm. This businesses sales. Likewise, when con- [email protected] The City warned of possible power constrained supply situation may per- veyer belts come to a halt at factories, outages and delays in service requests. sist through the weekend,” said Eskom. so does production output causing THE search for a child who fell into a “ Local Government, Environmen- The power utility said teams were massive financial losses. The electric- canal in Belgravia Estate, Athlone, and Do what you can tal Affairs and Development Planning hard at work trying to return these ity outages especially compromise the the man who tried to rescue her had to reduce electricity MEC Anton Bredell urged the public to units to service. catalytic industries, and result in job to be called off this afternoon due to heed the early warnings and limit the Finance and Economic Opportuni- losses,” he said the poor weather conditions. consumption amount of time spent outdoors over ties MEC David Maynier said: “Busi- According to economist Dawie The City’s Fire and Rescue Service the next few days. nesses in the Western Cape are already Roodt, the added strain of load shed- was alerted to the incident in which Anton Bredell “It is going to get cold and very hard-hit by the Covid-19 pandemic ding for businesses could land the a child had fallen into the canal near MEC wet. We have also been alerted to the and the resultant health and economic country in a longer period of recession. 8th Avenue, Belgravia Estate. fact that the national electricity grid crisis. Add to this an electricity crisis, “We are in serious economic trou- Fire crews from Ottery and Epping is under extreme pressure with load and this will certainly be the final ble. The demand for electricity was fire stations and divers from Roeland shedding a possibility. Do what you blow for many businesses already on supposed to be lower during the lock- Street fire station were dispatched to The SA Weather Service predicted can to reduce electricity consumption. the precipice of closure, resulting in down. You have to look at this in the scene. When they arrived, resi- disruptive snowfalls over high-ground “Consider livestock and small ani- further job losses in the Western Cape. the context of a business owner if dents told the officer in charge that of the Cape Winelands and more heavy mals that may be exposed to the ele- That is why we are doing everything you are lucky to open your doors but a man had jumped into the canal as rains over the Cape metropole, Cape ments and try to limit the amount of we can to build energy resilience in the can’t trade because of load shedding it well. Winelands, Overberg and escarpment travel over the next few days,” Bredel Western Cape and support businesses becomes a case of a double whammy This happened as strong winds and of the West Coast district today and said. to beat load shedding.” for business owners,” he said. heavy rains cause roofs to collapse and tomorrow morning. Residents were reminded to call As lockdown regulations started Last month Statistics SA announced street were flooded were witnessed as A truck driver was seriously injured the City’s Public Emergency Commu- easing gradually, more sectors of the the economy continued to contract in the first cold front hit the province. and two passengers slightly injured nication Centre for weather-related economy started opening. However, causing heavy rains and strong winds after their truck was blown over by emergencies on 021 480 7700 from a many businesses have been closed for To page 3 throughout the province yesterday. strong north-westerly winds on the cellphone or 107 from a landline. COVID-19 REGULATIONS Winde cancels presser on doctor’s advice Restaurants fight for MWANGI GITHAHU ing with President (Cyril) Ramaphosa on-site liquor consumption [email protected] online during the scheduled Presi- dent’s Co-ordinating Council meeting PREMIER Alan Winde yesterday can- on Thursday afternoon, and will be MARVIN CHARLES the regulations, but they still choose celled his regular Thursday digital chairing our second Cabinet meeting [email protected] to ignore us,” she said. news conference on advice of his doc- of the week on Friday morning, which As of July 1, restaurants have been tor after developing a “slight fever as a takes place on MS Teams.” THE Restaurants Association of South allowed to reopen for sit-down ser- result of Covid-19”. The Good Party’s Brett Herron said: Africa (Rasa) is not backing down from vices under stringent health protocols. Winde said: “As I have type 2 diabe- “I am sorry to hear that the premier a fight with the Ministry of Trade and This after being closed for nearly four tes, I am monitoring myself closely. My has tested positive for Covid-19. I Industry to lift the ban on the on-site months. blood glucose levels were also higher regret that he has fallen ill and wish consumption of liquor at restaurants. However, alcohol and buffets than usual this morning, determining him well as he rests up and recovers. According to Rasa, businesses are remain prohibited at restaurants. the decision to take due precautions “I welcome that the premier has pleading with Minister Ebrahim Patel In a letter sent from Rasa’s attor- and rest.” traced his contacts. It is important that to have a meaningful engagement with ney’s to Patel it stated: “The request The topic for the cancelled digital we all strictly adhere to the health pro- them on why the selling of alcohol at for reasons was made to the minister news conference was to have been an tocols. I encourage all traced contacts restaurants remains prohibited. in his capacity as a member of Cabinet update on the province’s response over to isolate so that they can prevent Rasa chief executive Wendy Alberts who is in charge of the regulations the first 100 days of the lockdown. Alan Winde any further spread of the disease, and said: “We are asking to engage with the surrounding the sale of on-site con- Winde was to have been joined by to make use of government-provided minister on this because many of our sumption of alcohol. Health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo facilities if they are unable to isolate restaurants have chosen not to open “In terms of Section 27 (2) of the and Keith Cloete, head of provincial for Covid-19. effectively in their own homes,” Her- its doors because of this. Disaster Management Act (DMA), there health. Cloete said the plan involved daily ron added. “Restaurants pay for a liquor license must have been consultations between Winde, who had also been excited calls to monitor those who had been In May, Gladys Bakubaku-Vos, the and it’s very expensive and they stand the ministers of the Department of to speak about the province’s diabetes infected but were not admitted to ANC’s provincial spokesperson on at risk of losing it if it’s not used.” Trade and Industry and Co-operative risk response during the conference, hospital. social development, was hospitalised Alberts said the Department of Governance and Traditional Affairs previously said: “I will also use the Winde also opted to skip yester- with the virus. Trade and Industry has not been forth- (Cogta) where the restriction and opportunity to share medical expertise day’s scheduled President’s Co-ordi- Upon leaving hospital Bakuba- coming with information. regulations to be imposed would have on diabetes as a high-risk category nating Council meeting, choosing to ku-Vos urged South Africans not to “R10 000 for this liquor license is been discussed and agreed on.” during Covid-19.