The mayor of the Lekwa Municipality, Mr Linda Dhlamini, made good on his promise to hold a press briefing for all those necessary community enquiries.
The Waterfront in Standerton was where Mr Dhlamini and municipal officials converged on Tuesday, 7 January, giving feedback on a variety of service delivery issues.
The briefing covered problems such as water supply, sanitation, electricity outages, road conditions and refuse removal, which were according to the mayor, prioritised as such.
The fire and rescue situation, building of the mall, developments at the Standerton River Park and Eskom debt were also covered.
To summarise a nearly two-hour-meeting succinctly, involves the financial challenges as expressed by the different speakers and Mr Dhlamini mentioned an ageing infrastructure that culminated in a variety of unforeseen incidents.
As regards electricity outages, a recent explosion at substation A when a breaker was not functioning, could be attributed to the battery bank.
A fault through the feeder breaker and the incoming side tripped the Eskom line.
Procurement of the necessary spares during the holiday period proved difficult, but the electricity supply is back to normal, bar any Eskom load shedding.
The thorny issue of illegal connections was tackled.
“The problem becomes major when seasoned businessmen steal electricity on an industrial scale,” Mr Dhlamini said.
The Standerton Advertiser had carte blanche to ask questions and enquired as to the exact amount of the Eskom debt and whether the agreement with the power utility is honoured.
Lekwa owes them R900-million and the municipality has come up with strategies to collect revenue and has committed itself to paying R1.5-million monthly.
“It remains dependent on the community paying for services,” the mayor emphasised.
“The municipality needs to service the Eskom account.”
Eskom allocates electricity to municipalities and if the amount is exceeded, a penalty comes into play.
Data cleansing is also on the cards and a financial recovery plan was agreed upon with the province.
As regards water supply, two turbines were installed at the water treatment plant and problems in areas that are affected, will be attended to.
Pollution of the Vaal River was briefly discussed.
An ongoing programme was established to fix potholes and material received to repair potholes.
Standerton Fire and Rescue has at present one fire engine that is in for repairs, one engine being built, one hired and a skid unit to be put at the back of a bakkie for emergencies.
No definite confirmation could be given when the mall will be built, but a joint session with the developer, Sky Village Properties, and the media will be held.
Water and electricity issues seem to be holding back the development.
Standerton River Park belongs to the municipality and is managed by Nafcoc, but no formal lease agreement however, has been entered into.
A promise was made that the question about an entry fee of R20 over the festive season will be looked into.
“We want to stabilise the administration and residents need to embrace a culture of payment,” Mr Dhlamini concluded.
