Service provider Enpower Machite will not be able to continue with any upgrades to the electricity supply in the Bethal and eMzinoni area if Govan Mbeki Municipality does not pay their invoices.
To date, Enpower Machite has invested more than R20 million in upgrades to the electricity supply infrastructure but has not yet received any payment.
This spells bad news for residents as Enpower Machite will not be able to continue this work.
Ms Tess Maroos, media liaison for Enpower Machite, said: “There are cashflow challenges for the financial sustainability of the project.
“It is limiting our activities on the ground as various initiatives had to be put on hold,” said Ms Maroos.
She said their service, including upgrading, is currently negatively impacted due to a lack of payment.
This would answer why Bethal residents have been seeing a “low profile” of service provider Enpower Machite.
When asked if there will ever be light at the end of the tunnel concerning the electricity problems of Bethal and eMzinoni, Ms Maroos responded: “Absolutely once we are able to operate the network.”
Ms Maroos said they have initiated an electrification project with a new 30MVA 88KV / 11KV substation that will be built near eMzinoni, to ensure universal access to affordable and reliable electricity in the area.
“This will ultimately reduce the need for illegal connections as people will be properly connected. This will also resolve the long-standing NMD issues when the substation begins to operate,” said Ms Maroos.
GSDM is the implementing agent for GMM and appointed Enpower Machite as the service provider for GMM.
It is said that GSDM is responsible for payments, however, GMM is supposed to pay GSDM who then pay Enpower Machite.
According to GSDM head of communications Ms Bongi Ka Dube, R20m was a requirement as a capital seed that had to be raised by the successful service provider to sustain the activities of the project until the vending activity part of the project is activated.
She also said that GSDM has claimed the money from GMM as per the contract, however, GMM has not paid GSDM therefore Enpower Machite has not yet been paid.
The Ridge Times asked Ms Ka Dube when does GSDM plan to pay the Service provider?
She said: “GSDM is not in a position to commit to a plan to pay Enpower Machite due to the fact that GMM has not provided reasons for not adhering to the SLA signed by both parties.”
At a media conference on Friday, December 3, GMM’s executive mayor, Mr Nhlakanipho Zuma, said one of the requirements when appointing the service provider was that the company had to have the financial capacity to invest R20m before GMM could discuss the issue of invoicing.
“The reason for this is that we do not have the financial capacity to fix the infrastructure of Bethal and eMzinoni within a given time.
“If we are to follow what we would have done, it would have taken longer to fix the problems that are there, that is why we asked for the support.”
Mr Zuma said the investment of R20m, according to GMM’s understanding, is that Enpower Machite needs to show R20m worth of “work” before there is any invoicing.
“Our understanding of the agreement between GSDM and Enpower Machite is that as they vend, there is a certain portion that they (the service provider) will keep, another portion will go towards maintenance and the other portion towards Eskom. Our purpose is to kill more than one bird with one stone.
“We want to improve our revenue. We want to improve the standard of supply of electricity. We want to create a situation where the infrastructure is up to standard to meet the demands.
“We also want to deflate the continued and accumulating debt to Eskom,” said Mr Zuma.
“Our understanding is that we must first be in a position to prove that we have received services of up to R20m and that we must not be invoiced directly by Enpower Machite. It is the district that must invoice us because the municipality does not have an agreement with Enpower Machite, but with GSDM.
“Each municipality is an entity of its own, therefore we cannot interfere with each other’s procurement processes.”
Mr Zuma said the municipality is in engagements through administration to finalise settlements on invoices between the GSDM and Enpower Machite which should be resolved in a “short period of time”.
For any electricity-related matters, residents can contact GMM’s call centre on 0800 6000 01/2/4 or WhatsApp on 083 790 0659.
You can also email the call centre at callcentre@govanmbeki.gov.za. Phone during office hours: 017 620 6000 (from 07:30 to 16:00).
Residents may also contact Enpower Machite on any of the following communication mediums:
Call: 087 550 0765 or visit their website at www.enpowermachite.co.za. You can also email: info@enpowermachite.co.za or visit Enpower Machite’s Facebook page.
