Simphiwe Ngema is gatvol of loadshedding affecting small businesses
Simphiwe says the government is more interested in campaigning and telling us that loadshedding will be over next year, but there are no real solutions.
Actress Simphiwe 'Simz' Ngema is tired of South Africans having to constantly deal with loadshedding.
'The Queen' star says Eskom's power failures are especially bad for small business owners. Simphiwe recalled how her friend's salon was hit with loadshedding during her hair appointment.
"I watched him struggle to get fuel for his generator, and I thought to myself, this is so unfortunate because this is somebody that has made a plan to make a living for himself. He is not waiting for opportunities from the government. Yet, the government is failing him," she said in a video shared on Instagram.
Simphiwe said the government needs to do less talking and take more action.
"The government is more interested in campaigning and telling us that load shedding will be over next year, but they are not making sensible statements to show us and to give us hope that indeed this is going to happen, there is going to be a solution. All we want is for the government to supply citizens with the electricity that they are paying for," she said.
The actress added that it is time for the government to step up and address the issues the country is facing.
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It is important for us to start having these conversations. We cannot be making plans to work around load shedding as citizens when we are still paying for electricity.
Simphiwe's followers agreed with her remarks, with one businessman sharing his own struggles with loadshedding.
"I for one run a business in Soweto. I pay rent on the premises that includes electricity. With load shedding the shop has no electricity for almost half the day. I then need to use alternatives such as gas and a generator. I fill the 9kg bottle with R320 and fill the generator with R300. That is already R620 out of profit and that lasts about two days. It has really really put a strain on small business. It’s really hard to keep the doors open but this crisis is costing us big time," the man said.
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But one follower pointed out that a lot of celebrities are quick to support the government come election time.
"In the same breath, same energy, address celebrities who always jump on to any opportunity from the government to campaign for them. The very same people in the media space will be up in arms misleading citizens to vote for the very same government that continues to make us suffer," a woman named Stacey wrote.
Meanwhile, Deputy President Paul Mashatile told the Parliamentary Press Gallery Association two weeks ago that he wants to "put loadshedding behind us by next year".
It's not the first time South Africans have been promised that the energy crisis will soon become a thing of the past.
"Energy has been a great drawback to us but we are working on it. We are certain that by 2024 the energy crisis will be over as we are ramping up more and more generation of energy," President Cyril Ramaphosa said in August.
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Main image credit: Instagram/@simzngema
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