Executive mayor blames electricity theft for municipality’s struggle to pay Eskom

The Govan Mbeki Municipality’s executive mayor, Thandi Ngxonono blamed their struggle to pay Eskom on electricity theft.

Ngxonono said in her speech during the virtual council meeting held on Thursday, 30 July, that about 60% of the council’s electricity losses is due to theft.

The executive mayor admitted that the supply of electricity was still a big problem.

She said it remained a serious concern, as it angers the residents – some of whom have turned to the social media to utter their frustrations.

She said the residents were very angry towards the municipality due to the electricity issue.

The mayor informed the council that there was a video doing the rounds on social media in which some people, who claim to represent the residents of Bethal and eMzinoni, are explaining their plans of taking the municipality to court with regards to service delivery and the supply of electricity.

In the midst of all these challenges, the Eskom account must always be prioritised.

“The rotational load shedding in Bethal and eMzinoni is still not being appreciated by our people. Similarly, the on-off electricity situation in eMbalenhle is causing frustrations for our people.

“Our people are asking very tough questions as to why the Notified Maximum Demand (NMD) issue was not attended to as early as possible and as urgently as it was supposed to have been.

“I am calling for the speedy resolution of the electricity situation.”

Ngxonono said she believed that interventions, which include the Gert Sibande District in Bethal and eMzinoni, and Bigen Africa in eMbalenhle, will yield positive results.

She also spoke about waste collection, which has been a problem in the past months.

Workers downed their tools after they complained of not having the necessary personal protective equipment (PPE). This resulted in the non-collection of waste for several weeks.

She said the non-collection of waste must never again be a factor, because the PPE challenge has been resolved.

The mayor slammed those who are not paying for municipal services.

“It cannot be correct that there are people who are not paying for the municipal services whereas there are people who are paying for these services.

“What is good for the goose must also be good for the gander. The philosophy of simple economics is that you pay for the services rendered.”

This article first appeared on Ridge Times and was republished with permission.

READ NEXT: Eskom to release municipality’s frozen funds to assist with running costs

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.