A recent study conducted by online personal loan provider Wonga South Africa found that as many as 60% of the workforce currently on incomes of R10,000 a month or less have chosen to supplement their earnings by taking on a side hustle.
However, one of the most significant challenges isn’t necessarily finding clients, juggling two careers, or allocating time to a side hustle after a full day at work – it is navigating the instability of the electricity network.
Loadshedding, where authorities deliberately turn off the power supply during strategically planned times, results in blackouts, intended to ease the pressure on the national grid, but with widespread ramifications.
Growth Metrics for Side Hustles in South Africa
An additional survey conducted by the African Bank Consumer Research Report and published by BusinessTech supports the findings. It shows that 16% to 29% of all respondents in low and middle-income categories had started a side hustle.
For most, the main goal is to generate additional income. However, a proportion chooses a side hustle to enjoy creative activities and pastimes or simply because an opportunity has arisen to use their skills outside their primary employment.
In an economic market where living costs have continued to rise, alongside higher interest rates making debt more expensive for almost every household, it is unsurprising that so many have opted for a second job, showing resilience and creativity during a challenging period of time.
That said, it isn’t just professionals and low or middle-income earners who are supplementing their budgets. As many as 29% of seniors are engaged in side hustles to cover basic outgoings such as rent, with most opting for work such as taking online surveys, house-sitting for friends and members of the local community, tutoring education-age students, or other freelance work.
One of the common denominators is that much of this work depends on an internet connection and a device, such as a laptop, smartphone or PC, which becomes impossible when the mains electricity supply has been turned off.
The Impacts of Loadshedding on Small Business Connectivity
An article published via the University of KwaZulu Natal labels the problem as part of a ‘major energy crisis’, noting that loadshedding affects people in metropolitan cities and other urban areas. It also notes that the issue disproportionately affects poorer, vulnerable communities without the finances to install alternative energy sources.
These outcomes lead to a lack of access to healthcare, social services and education without considering the financial ramifications for those with side hustles who depend on their second incomes to cover essential living costs.
According to the survey mentioned previously:
53% of survey respondents reported being negatively affected by loadshedding.
40% stated that the cost of loadshedding has been between R1,000 and R4,999 monthly.
18% have lost business due to the lack of connectivity, whereas 16% have seen reductions in income and 14% have experienced damage to equipment due to electricity instability.
Those with the financial means to do so have looked to off-grid energy supplies to guarantee continuity during planned loadshedding and unanticipated blackouts – but for the larger proportion of workers using a side hustle, these options are limited.
The practices deployed to compensate for the ageing energy infrastructure in South Africa seem to be having a greater negative impact than the positive outcomes it aims to achieve, namely conserving power by cutting off the supply to rebalance electricity across the network.
Loadshedding might be reasonably commonplace but is not used in any other country to the extent or frequency it is in South Africa – and is far from a long-term solution.