Eskom discusses power issues with Ekurhuleni councillors

Ekurhuleni Whip of Council Ald Jongizizwe Dlabathi held an urgent meeting with ward councillors and Eskom in Germiston on September 13 to discuss prevalent energy challenges affecting Ekurhuleni.

The meeting had already been postponed twice as Dlabathi has been investigating how the City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) can tackle the energy crisis.

He recently conducted a site inspection of municipal energy depots to understand the challenges they are facing that are preventing them from providing adequate service to residents.

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The Eskom team that attended the meeting consisted of the stakeholder and communication department with the technical team.

The meeting was to provide updates on the energy situation in Ekurhuleni and what matters Eskom can handle.

Eskom informed councillors that they are not responsible for all areas when it comes to load-shedding.

Some areas are controlled by CoE and Eskom is responsible for scheduling the load-shedding.

Amanda Qithi, stakeholder and communications, urged councillors to encourage residents to reduce their electricity usage.

“Overloading, no payment and illegal connections are some of the contributors to the electricity problems. Once a substation is strained, it damages the station,” said Qithi.

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Ward 92 Clr Kade Guerreiro raised concerns about Germiston businesses affected by load-shedding and how Eskom is assisting that situation.

“Eskom understands the challenges that come with load-shedding for businesses and is willing to provide some assistance to mitigate the impact of load-shedding on the income and generation of revenue.

“Businesses can apply for the Distribution Demand Management Programme (DDMP) to assist in the reduction of load-shedding,” said Qithi.

The programme is open to those who meet the criteria whether supplied by a municipality or Eskom and are within the boundaries of South Africa.

Infrastructure damage

Another concern was raised by Bedfordview’s councillor Jill Humphreys about the damage to infrastructure and tampering.

She questioned Eskom about its actions to ensure that infrastructure is safe.

“Eskom is aware of damages caused by tampering and theft. We are researching ways to safeguard the infrastructure.

Copper is a problem because of its value, therefore, when it is damaged, we replace it with aluminium as part of mitigating the theft.

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“We have the technology installed in the cable that causes vibrations when someone digs out a cable to alert us, but we cannot be everywhere. Some areas are remote and some areas have guards on rotation.

“In the end, it’s a team effort and partnerships are encouraged to look at ways to work together in ensuring the safety of the infrastructures. We realise that when it is damaged, residents suffer,” said Qithi.

“That meeting was okay. I am concerned Eskom seems to forget that it is still the main supplier of power.

“They need to look at the energy issue as a whole whether they service an area or not. They gave great answers but how they plan to mitigate the issue, was vague,” said Guerreiro after the meeting.

GCN asked Guerreiro how he felt about the absence of Clr Leshaka Manamela, the MMC for Water, Sanitation and Energy.

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“He could be doing more to remedy the situation. He is not available for the council and the community.

The lack of communication is concerning and this culture of no communication has spread to depots and councillors are not getting answers.

“I was hoping he would attend the meeting to discuss the energy issue on a municipal level,” said Guerreiro.

“They need to have more empathy for residents and businesses and understand how this has affected Ekurhuleni and the impact the energy crisis has had on businesses and the local economy,” said Guerreiro.

GCN sent a request for comment to the office of Manamela on September 15, requesting comment by September 18 before 09:00.

At the time of going to print, no comment had been received.