City ramps up streetlights repairs amidst vandalism
The CoE remains concerned by the high number of vandalism of critical essential services infrastructure.
Records revealed that the city from the beginning of June to July 12, 2024, received 1 500 streetlights complaints in Benoni, which have since been fixed.
The work adds to the normal maintenance, which currently includes the replacement of high-pressure sodium globes with LED lights that have a longer lifespan and consume less energy. So far, over 5 000 lights and 301 high mast lights have been converted to LED in Benoni.
Is load-shedding back?
With the sporadic power outages in some areas, many people may have been wondering whether load-shedding has returned to haunt businesses and households.
Both Eskom and the City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) have announced that load-shedding remains suspended, but Eskom has resumed ‘load reduction’ in areas that are directly supplied by the power utility.
Eskom pointed out that it is implementing a reduction of electricity usage to protect its assets, particularly transformers when there is high demand on their supply during peak hours.
Eskom said the overload issues are attributed to illegal connections, vandalism, meter tampering, unauthorised network operations, theft of network equipment, and the purchase of electricity from unlicensed vendors/sellers.
Metro spokesperson Zweli Dlamini assured residents that the city is not implementing load reduction or load-shedding at the moment. However, should a need arise, the city will inform its customers of any further developments.
“The city is continuously engaging Eskom to improve communication to areas that are supplied by them directly and any other issue that is electricity-related and may have an impact on communities,” said Dlamini.
SA hit over 100 days of no load-shedding
In a statement issued by Eskom on July 12, the utility pointed out that it had clocked 107 consecutive days of constant power supply, 73 of which fall within the winter season and the winter outlook remains in force.
The last time load-shedding was implemented was on March 26.
Eskom attributed the improvement to the implementation of the Generation Recovery Plan initiated in March, as well as carrying out extensive planned maintenance and other operational improvements.
Eskom strongly encourages customers to moderate their electricity usage during the suspension of load-shedding.
“It is also imperative that customers ensure their electrical connections are lawful and that they procure electricity solely from authorised vendors,” said Eskom in the statement.
Eskom encourages the public to play an active role in safeguarding the integrity of the power network by reporting any illegal activities to the Eskom Crime Line at 0800 112 722 or via WhatsApp at 081 333 3323.
Take note of CoE’s change of bank
The CoE has changed its primary banker as of July 1 and assures residents that the new development will not affect its customers.
Dlamini explained that the changes in primary bankers align with the municipal supply chain management regulation that prescribes competitive bidding for procuring banking services. The service may not be for longer than five years.
“The changes do not affect customers and the municipal account the customers use for payment of services. The reference number provided on municipal statements allows the city to allocate money to the correct account,” explained Dlamini.
Customers who prefer to pay through electronic funds transfer can do so through most of the traditional banks.
Alternatively, payments can be made through the e-Siyakhokha online payment system at www.e-siyakhokha.co.za as well as third-party vendors such as retailers.
Here is how the metro plans to restore the city’s finances
The newly appointed Ekurhuleni Finance MMC, Jongizizwe Dlabathi, recently outlined the city’s plan to restore the city’s finances.
Dlabathi said part of bringing financial stability and sustainability to the city is to encourage and foster the culture of paying for municipal services by all households and businesses in the city.
“While we expect that those who can service their full account must do so, we also understand that some may be unable to service the full current account. But those constrained must at least contribute to the payment of municipal services. There must be no household in the city that passes a month without throwing at least something into the coffers.”
Incentive
The city also plans to resuscitate some of the revenue enhancement programmes to bring in new revenue into the system. These programmes include a consideration to give some incentive to the businesses that are owing the city.
According to Dlabathi, hundreds of top businesses owe the city a substantial amount of money.
“Part of the incentive that we can give to them is to offset the interest on the capital amount and allow them to pay us the capital amount through an arrangement.
“We are also considering giving further discounts to businesses that can pay us at least half of the money they owe (the capital minus the interest) upfront.
“Another way of trying to meet those owing us halfway includes the consideration of conditional debt right off for the households whose balances are sitting on the days that are way above 120 days.
“The other aspect is to use the city’s assets to generate more revenue for the city.”
The MMC said the city will further deal with supply chain management and expenditure management.
“We are going to make sure that our supply chain management processes continue to mature and that they are compliant, prevent any instances of wasteful, irregular and fruitless expenditure.
“We also want to tighten controls when it comes to the goods and services that we are procuring. We want to make sure that we procure them economically at prices that are reasonable and not bloated. Also, to confine our goods and services to matters that are essential for us to provide services.
“We want to tighten the issue of the payment system so that we address the challenges of small businesses not being paid on time.
“We need to address the issues of cash flow and contract management.”
Also Read: Ekurhuleni 2024/25 budget: Watch finance MMC reveals money allocated to departments
