One could be forgiven for wondering what more can be said about service delivery in Standerton, but rest assured, there is more to come.
The patience of the elderly waiting for Sassa-grants to be paid out at the Standerton Post Office on Wednesday, 3 June was in stark contrast to the community who mobilised, though not successfully, the weekend of 30 May.
The Standerton Advertiser went to one of the entrance roads to town, the Volksrust Road on Saturday, 30 May at about 4pm to see firsthand whether community members blocked the road.
Only traffic officers were to be seen, but photos of a protest in Azalea surfaced later the evening.
The R23 was also closed for some time by residents of Sakhile.
Dissatisfaction with the Lekwa Municipality was first and foremost on the minds of several contributors on WhatsApp-groups.
The load shedding introduced by Lekwa for the past weeks added fuel to the fire of those struggling with sewage and water leaks.
“We have said it many times, but have to say it again, the situation is not getting any better,” Ms Angel Khanyile, DA-member of parliament, said on Monday, 1 June.
Lekwa’s load shedding schedule was greeted with derision the moment it did not correspond with the given times, and a political slant entered conversations.
“Electricity cuts are crazy,” Ms Khanyile added.
“The municipality needs to be transparent about the Eskom-account.”
The newspaper regularly published notices pertaining to the electricity situation on its website since the lockdown began and gave coverage to municipal workers disconnecting illegal connections in Ext 6.
The latter was given as one of the reasons why the power tripped during peak hours.
Ms Khanyile referred to the installation of new smart meters in Kosmospark and Florapark as well.
The DA has in the meantime begun a petition about service delivery and is aiming at 20 000 signatures.
Whether the municipality has been put under administration was in question and the caucus leader of the DA, Mr Rosier de Ville, said on 1 June that he supports the petition.
“I have asked that the petition be translated into Afrikaans and Zulu to reach the broader community,” Mr De Ville added.
Lekwa furthermore conducted electricity inspections at the Indian Complex and in town towards the end of last year and hefty fines were issued. Ms Thobeka Mtshiselwa, communications manager of the municipality, referred then to the negative impact of transgressions on the Eskom account.
“This initiative tries to ensure people pay for their services,” Ms Mtshiselwa said.
The community was repeatedly informed about Lekwa’s intentions and they made good on their promise and disconnected municipal electric poles in Ext 6, Vodacom, Mahala Park and other sections in July last year.
Their work was carried out in terms of Section 101 of the Municipal Systems Act of 2000.
An allegation was made that Lekwa had no smart meters in stock in certain periods last year and a trustworthy source asked whether the municipality published their tariffs for meter tampering, bridging and bypassing.
Also read: Community mobilises to close roads to Standerton
The newspaper sent questions via WhatsApp to Ms Mtshiselwa on Friday, 6 December last year.
Back to the present, one notice of the municipality said the current notified demand is exceeded in winter for years now and the municipality has incurred many irrecoverable expenses through penalties and interest charged by Eskom.
According to information, Lekwa owes R1-billion and was charged R10 076 743 interest in March.
The municipal manager, Ms Gugu Mhlongo-Ntshangase, mentioned that attempts have been made as far back as early 2014 for an upgrading of the notified maximum demand.
According to Ms Mhlongo-Ntshangase, Lekwa has applied for an interim increase from 55MVA to 67MVA.
The Standerton Advertiser sent a WhatsApp-message to Ms Mtshiselwa on Wednesday, 3 June, enquiring whether the increase has been approved.
Ms Mthiselwa replied in the negative the same day and said that Lekwa is still engaging with Eskom.
The newspaper called Mr Bronwen Pretorius, AfriForum’s coordinator for the Highveld on 3 June as well, for comment on the town’s infrastructure and the electricity situation, especially.
Mr Pretorius said AfriForum in the process of writing letters to the municipal manager.
