House-to-house inspections on hold
"We first need to need to engage with all relevant stakeholders, particularly the residents."
The Newcastle Municipality last year (December 12) issued a statement saying it would be embarking on house-to-house electricity inspections, in relation to the current load-shedding happening in town.
In its attempts to try and curb load-shedding, the municipality’s acting Municipal Manager, Muzi Mayisela had said some customers were bridging the system.
“Eskom has a system called the ‘ripple relay’, which controls geysers. What that means is, we are able to switch off all geysers without going to each house individually. We have however found out not enough energy is saved, because some residents might have tampered with their systems and we can’t switch off their geyser. Therefore, we will start doing house-to-house inspections and if you are found guilty, you will be fined.”
Head of Communications at the municipality, Mlungisi Khumalo said the matter was still being deliberated. At the moment, he explained, the process of house-to house inspections was still at a ‘consultative phase’ and relevant stakeholders – residents in particular – needed to be engaged with.
“For now, the prime objective is encouraging residents to pay their bills on time, and we are happy most of the community is willing to work with the municipality in this regard. This shows active citizenry from the people, which is good news. When this decision was taken, it was a form of a last resort because of the current load-shedding and to try and save electricity. We would not go around switching geysers without engaging with the community first.”
Read the full story on this week’s edition of the Newcastle Advertiser.
ALSO READ: Eskom will switch off supply to Newcastle on Monday
Contact us
WhatsApp: 082 874 5550
Email: Reveshni Douglas (Editor) at reveshni@caxton.co.za
Make sure you follow us for regular updates:
