Power cuts plunge business into turmoil

Since January 16 some parts of the country has experienced unexpected power blackouts. This is because Botswana's major power supplier, Eskom, of South Africa, has decided to cut the outside supply to meet local demand.

This latest development has not gone down well with the business community here who fear that the problem will impact negatively on their businesses. Pay Less Supermarket manager at Madirelo mall Edwin Motlhabane said though the complex has a backup generator, repeated outages would result in extra costs. They have to buy fuel to run the backup system. "We used to have a generator connected to tills only but we have since connected it to fridges, slicing machines, ovens and big cold rooms," he said. But he pointed out that these big appliances require more electricity.