![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/no-of-liquidations.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe Financing, insurance, real estate and business services industry was the hardest hit in February, with 68 businesses liquidated.<\/p>\n
Unclassified industries followed suit in second with 39 liquidations, while the trade, catering and accommodation industry had the third-highest number of liquidations at 26.<\/p>\n
The mining and quarrying, as well as the electricity, gas and water industries, saw no liquidations at all during February.<\/p>\n
Businesses across the country have found themselves between a rock and a hard place, fighting to keep the lights on as the embattled Eskom provides unstable energy.<\/p>\n Operational expenses have skyrocketed, with major retailers being forced to fork out billions of rands to pay a hefty diesel bills for their generators. These costs are mimicked to a smaller degree in medium and small-scale businesses as well.<\/p>\n The Bureau for Economic Research (BER) recently reported that sentiment for retail businesses in South Africa is currently at levels similar to the 2009 financial crisis<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>– primarily driven by load shedding and lower consumer demand.<\/p>\n Load shedding shows little sign of improvement. Eskom recently announced the return of Stage 3 rolling blackouts. This follows slightly lower levels over the week before. However, analysts still point to the winter months being a sore point for South Africans, with load shedding to worsen.<\/p>\n The economic outlook for South Africa remains dire. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), on 23 March, slashed the country’s GDP forecast to 0.1% in 2023.<\/p>\n This compares with its January estimate of 1.2% and the National Treasury\u2019s projection of 0.9% – load shedding has been cited as the primary driver of downward revisions.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\n