DA accuses eThekwini’s Electricity Department of being on the brink of collapse

The eThekwini Municipality has denounced claims that its electricity department is on the brink of collapse.

This comes after the DA on Monday called on the eThekwini Electricity Department to review its operational capacity to deal with increasing electricity outages across eThekwini.

DA eThekwini deputy caucus whip for Human Settlements and Infrastructure, Ernest Smith, claimed that over the festive season, a number of employees within the department were given leave without contingency plans being put in place.

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Smith said there appeared to be a complete dereliction of duty from officials leaving ward councillors to bear the brunt of community outrage.

According to reports, the electricity department dispatched technicians from outside the municipality to handle outages within the metro. Also, the call centre set up to handle complaints remained inoperable.
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He added that efforts by councillors and residents to obtain answers have garnered little fruit, since no comment on the cause and response to the December outages had been provided.

The result of this poor planning has caused misery for residents, who have seen food spoiled and appliances breaking due to surges.
We cannot continue to allow officials and contractors with insufficient experience and expertise [to work] for the municipality at the expense of residents.
Reacting to the DA’s claims, the city said these allegations were nothing but disinformation.

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Speaking to The Witness, municipal spokesperson, Mswawakhe Mayisela, said all the city’s call centres were operational.

Like any call centres of an organisation of this magnitude, there may be instances where callers wait longer than they were expecting. Residents may continue to report their faults and the city will always do everything in its power to attend to all faults reported with speed.
On Monday alone, there were more than 25 areas within the eThekwini Municipality that were without electricity due to faults.