‘Many electrical facilities unsafe’
The municipality does not seem to be resolving the situation.
A group of eight municipal electricians are, after several months, still sitting at home while receiving payment as a result of a labour dispute between them and the municipality.
According to the employees the dispute arose from the fact that they risked their lives working on municipal infrastructure that are not being maintained, while not having been equipped with the necessary Personal Protective Equipment, commonly referred to as “PPE”, for the past three years.
The problems arose in January this year when the municipal manager Dumisani Mabuza, informed the public that some areas were stuck without electricity due to some of their electricians that has gone on strike. The electricians say, however, that they did turn up for work, but refused to go out without the necessary PPE. The group was suspended after this and are still not sure what their plight will be.
“Many of the substations around Carletonville, Khutsong and Blybank are overloaded and have not been properly maintained in the past 20 years,” they say.
The electricians say that they felt they risked their lives, as one of their colleagues had already been burned while working at the facility in Blybank.
“You can hear a constant buzzing at the bridge by the substation next to Khutsong Extension 5 as well as at Carletonville’s main substation in Reinecke Street. It is not supposed to be like this and shows that there is something wrong,” one of the electricians noted.
According to the electricians, municipal electrical facilities in the Fochville area are newer than those around Carletonville, Khutsong and Blybank. Especially the substations in the Khutsong area are also badly overloaded because of illegal connections, which also makes the conditions more dangerous for employees.
They say they have been raising the issue with the municipal management since last year, but despite promises, nothing was done about it.
Although the Herald asked the municipality about the matter several times, their Marketing and Communications Manager, Temba Fezani did not reply.
The municipality also did not reply on whether the electricians who are on duty have since received the necessary PPE.
