The recent ongoing powercuts has left Kebonang Mogaadile’s dream to grow his business shattered, when he lost 147 chicks due to loadshedding. This meant that the self-employed farmer lost out on R11 760 due to the unexpected power cuts.

“The chickens were trying to keep warm that night, so, they ended up stepping on each other and they died. And in the morning when I woke up, 147 chickens were gone, ”he said. Mogaadile turned to chicken farming in 2020 due to unemployment, after losing his job as an English teacher in China during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Working with a partner, who is also unemployed, the two started with 30 chickens. The business, Crescendo Poultry Farm, has grown to between 300 and 400 chickens per cycle. Kebonang Mogaadile has labelled the loss of his 147 chicks as a major setback, as he was out of business for two months due to shortage of chicks and just when him and his partner got the chicks they went all out to keep their business alive and now they’re back to the scratch.

The loss has seriously impacted on the business. We regularly have to buy equipment and we were expanding the business. Now it’s going to take longer for that to happen,” he added.