A meeting attended by the deputy minister of the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC), Fikile Majola, his senior officials and an official from the treasury, was held in Springs recently.
The meeting, comprising other attendees, included City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) officials from the energy and water departments and senior executives from most of the large industries in Springs was chaired by Mike du Toit on behalf of the Eastern Gauteng Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
In his welcome address, Du Toit summarised the difficulties the industry faced over the years, particularly since the burning down of the JVA and the Munic substations.
The erratic electricity supply has cost the industry hundreds of millions of rands.
Du Toit invited three executives from the biggest companies in Springs to outline the impact of the energy crisis on their businesses.
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All three clarified they could not consider new expansionary investments under these conditions and, in some cases, had to scale down their operations.
All the delegates said their companies were prepared to help the government overcome these problems, but they have rebuffed offers of assistance in the past.
There was also an emphasis that the supervision of contractors was not up to standard.
In this time of crisis, the industry is committed to uniting with the government but must be covered by a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to serve as a guide to the collaboration.
The owner of a medium-sized family-owned business outlined the impact load-shedding had on SMEs, which in many respects is more of a problem because businesses cannot afford to raise the money needed to mitigate it.
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The possible solution was to work out how to shield the industry from the devastating effects of load-shedding as it poses an existential threat.
Du Toit alluded to load-shedding not being the only problem faced by the industry. He said the impact of crime had an ‘enormously destructive effect’ on electricity and water infrastructure.
He pointed out that 240 cable thefts took place in the Springs precinct last year.
Every one of these incidents resulted in an area being out of power for periods ranging from six hours to two days, affecting both industry and residents indiscriminately.
“Even when we solve our supply problem, we may solve nothing if we cannot restore law and order,” said Du Toit.
Majola said he understood the seriousness of the problem and that his visit was to establish the extent of the local problems.
He added he had already communicated with Premier Panyaza Lesufi, who agreed to set up a meeting with the city’s executive mayor. Both could not attend this meeting.
He further promised to engage the Minister of Electricity to help on a macro level and also get the provincial commissioner of police involved in future meetings.
A representative from the treasury pointed out that the CoE budget for the repair and maintenance of infrastructure was below what the treasury recommended.
Majola stated three task teams had to be formed, namely communication, infrastructure, and security.
He also stated that they have launched an Energy Resilience Fund through the DTIC to get extra capacity sorted quicker.
“We can do this through their ‘Energy One Stop Shop’, put in place to mitigate the impact of the energy crisis.”
He also mentioned that COGTA had a framework on ‘wheeling’ and that the industry could speak to them about it.
Du Toit thanked Majola, the DTIC, treasury and CoE officials and the leaders of industry, for attending the crucial meeting and said they look forward to future engagements.
He also thanked Mpact for hosting the meeting.
