By Angela Rivers
Every sector of the economy is affected by loadshedding, but it is those with limited resources who are the most calamitously affected. As the providers of most of the affordable housing in the inner city of Johannesburg, the Johannesburg Property Owners and Managers Association (JPOMA) is made aware on a daily basis of the knock-on effect of extended power cuts. The energy crisis is changing how we manage property issues, and we are pooling our resources to try help our landlord members navigate this complex issue.
The alternative energy solutions that many homeowners are investing in now are not always suitable for our market of affordable inner-city housing.
A few of our members have investigated the solar options, but due to the limited roof space of the typical multistory inner-city building, it is not a viable solution. In order to run all the systems needed in a high-rise building in the city, you need a generator, and lots and lots of diesel, and this in itself is becoming extortionately expensive. Lifts, water pumps, fingerprint-access and other essential security systems are not nice-to-haves in a high-rise building, and landlords have no choice but to fork out to keep their tenants safe.
As one example, the Johannesburg landmark Ponte City in Berea was last year forced to spend R1.4million on diesel to run the generators needed to keep lifts, water pumps and security systems in the 54-story building operational during loadshedding. This is not money that is in any way recoverable from tenants in the affordable-housing market.
At Jewel City, the Divercity project that created a node of excellence within COJ, things are equally dire. We have learnt that they clocked 1100 hours of loadshedding last year and spent R2.7 million in diesel and generator maintenance. Not even the most robust budget can accommodate this sustainably.
And imagine the plight of the smaller landlords – they are trying their best, but they simply have no way to afford this kind of outlay. Some of our members have gone the inverter route, but in these high levels of loadshedding, the batteries are depleted within six months, repeatedly needing expensive replacements. So those are not a sustainable solution either.
What we are seeing is that tenants now want affordable housing with the luxury of alternative energy, which is an impossible situation. Applications for accommodation now come with queries about what the loadshedding workarounds are. It’s a very relevant question, but a very difficult one for landlords, who don’t want to pass the costs of alternative energy solutions on to tenants when the cost of living is already so high.
Landlords also come under pressure from existing tenants, and we’ve seen an increase in crime and vandalism in buildings during down times. Tenants are taking advantage of loadshedding and robbing each other. It is becoming increasingly difficult to navigate and juggle the obligation of landlords to protect their tenants against crime while also protecting their property against being damaged.
For a property owner an investment in any alternative energy solution now becomes a way to make their property more desirable. A few years ago it was wifi, and now if you can boast a loadshedding solution, your property immediately becomes more marketable. But the cost of supplying wifi and the cost of uninterrupted power supply during loadshedding are quite different propositions…
In the end the knock-on effect on the entire community is circling bigger and bigger. Disgruntled tenants who move out of a residential building plagued by loadshedding affects the micro economy as businesses in the area lose their clients. A small business such as a restaurant that cannot afford to run a generator during loadshedding will not operate at all during down time, and lose all income while still needing to pay staff. The shop owners are also tenants and when they cannot afford to pay their rent because their businesses are struggling, it adds to the ripple effect.
In a recent members’ meeting someone noted that in Johannesburg the real unemployment rate is north of 50%. The official national figure is around 33%. We can see its disheartening effect in the inner city of Johannesburg, and it is only going to get worse until some affordable and sustainable energy solution is found. JPOMA is keen to work with the new administration to find ways to work around the problem. We trust they are up for the challenge.
