Rolling blackouts take heavy toll on the many who are struggling to survive

Ntobeko Mafu is often at business hubs and incubators selling products from her farm through her Madame Clucks Alot brand. (Photo: Supplied)

By Naledi Sikhakhane

23 Jan 2023

‘Load shedding combined with the water shortage in my area has completely obliterated my business’, says one small-scale chicken farmer who is shutting down as a result of power outages and water shortages in Nhlazatshe, Pietermaritzburg.

Ntobeko Mafu, 22, beat the odds when she started a successful, registered chicken business at the age of 20 while pursuing a qualification in human resource management. She was also a single parent. Now, thanks to municipal incompetence and the government’s inability to keep the lights on, her dream is in tatters.

rolling blackouts toll Ntobeko Mafu is devastated to have been forced to close her chicken farm business due to rolling blackouts and water challenges in rural Hlazatshe, Pietermaritzburg.
(Photo: Supplied)

“We have suffered horrendous load shedding and water shortages in the Nhlazatshe location in Edendale…

“At first, the electricity issue hampered the growth of our chickens, then the water shortages led to the deaths of 600 chickens that were ready to be sold,” said Mafu.

Bright prospect

The young entrepreneur was a bright prospect in the small to medium enterprises sector in Durban, managing to complete four business training programmes. She also won several business-related competitions, including a national one where she represented KZN and took third place among 791 entrants.

The money she was making from her business took care of her son, school fees, transport, clothing and so on, while also contributing to the upkeep of her two brothers.

“It started slowly in November. We had the ‘normal’ two hours of load shedding per day… then it moved to four hours in less than a week.

“When load shedding happened at night, the chicks would huddle together in an attempt to find warmth, but they would end up trampling one another. This increased the mortality rate,” Mafu said.

“Then load shedding went up to more than six hours per day… then 13 hours, 15 hours. This did a lot of damage. Mortality shot up from five or so chickens per week to between 30 and 50 a day.

‘There was very little left’

“Then a water pipe burst and we didn’t have water for a week. Eventually, after four days, a water tanker arrived. By the time it got to our side of the road, there was very little left.”

Mafu said that some days they went without water. It was this that killed the last of her stock. Now, she says she’s devastated at the idea of having to let four of her employees go.

rolling blackouts toll Ntobeko Mafu is often at business hubs and incubators selling products from her small farm. (Photo: Supplied)

“I need a hybrid inverter and batteries… I need a solar panel and I need chicken feed, as well as chicks, and a water pump if possible.”

Mafu says she will now focus on growing the crop side of her business — Madame Leafy Green — and hold classes until she can find the means to start over.

“For now, we are implementing training programmes and offering slaughtering and plucking services, since we have a machine. I’ll also use Madame Leafy Green to try to generate money to help the chicken side of the business.”

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Mafu said she was inspired by her father, who died when she was 17.

“I think the main reason I became an entrepreneur was having my father die when I was at a young age, after having been raised as a daddy’s girl. Also, I had just had my son. My entrepreneurial spirit arose during the seven months my father was sick… I took care of him.

“My father was a farmer — he had cows, pigs, chickens and geese running around this very yard, which sustained us as a family, even when he got sick.

“Unfortunately, he sold all his produce before he departed. By the time he died, all we had left was the house, which I am grateful for. I have just had to work hard.” DM/MC

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Bright prospect

‘There was very little left’