The impacts of load shedding on selected formally registered b&b’s and guesthouses in Pietermaritzburg : survival strategies

Load shedding hit the country for the first time in November 2007 - January 2008, disrupting businesses, closing mining operations and affecting B&B’s and Guesthouses. Eskom applies load shedding by stopping the electricity distribution throughout particular areas for a short period of time negatively impacting both businesses and households. The utilities debt is owed to a substantial loss of critical skills, poor quality of maintenance and inadequate workmanship, resulting in break-downs. These breakdowns have given rise to a unique expression regularly used in SA, known as ‘load shedding’. The study aimed to investigate the impacts of load shedding and suggest survival strategies as used by selected formally registered B&B’s and Guesthouses in Pietermaritzburg. The study employed the qualitative method to data collection and analysis because of the nature of the research objectives that the study sought to satisfy. Data were collected through secondary sources during the literature reviews as well as through interviews with owners and managers of selected B&B’s and Guesthouses in the area of Pietermaritzburg. B&B’s and Guesthouses may be the most vulnerable compared to larger organisations such as hotels. The reason being that B&B’s and Guesthouses lack capital resources, financial support and the majority are not able to afford backup facilities to guarantee power supply. As the study discovered that the load shedding phenomenon was not about to disappear in South Africa due to ageing infrastructure, demand exceeding supply and inefficiencies. While government and power and energy industry intervention is critical, it remains imperative for owners of B&B’s and Guesthouses to invest in alternative sources of energy and implement strategies for the resilience and sustainability of their small businesses.