Ekurhuleni acknowledges businesses

A business imbizo was held in Boksburg on Thursday, October 9, to facilitate conversations with business entities.

Khaya Ngema, Ekurhuleni city manager, said the recent water shortage in Ekurhuleni, especially in Benoni, created the urgent need for the imbizo.

“This imbizo will be ongoing, because businesses in the city need to be viable and Ekurhuleni must assist them in doing so,” said Ngema.

He highlighted the metro’s plans in terms of development, such as the BRT system implementation which has started in Kempton Park and Tembisa.

An aerotropolis flagship project is also in the pipeline, as is the revival of manufacturing areas which, according to Ngema, will benefit everyone within the city.

Mark Wilson, from the Ekurhuleni energy department, acknowledged that energy plays an important part in input costs for businesses.

He stated that R348-million was dedicated for maintenance and refurbishment of substations in the last financial year.

Theft of electrical equipment and copper are the main issues the department is facing, and they are working closely with the EMPD and SAPS to try and solve the problem

The water shortage issue was also on the agenda and Ekurhuleni admitted that it could have tackled the crisis better than it did.

Investing in early warning systems is a priory for the metro and their plan is to continuously monitor water pumps and improve communication.

There are about 16 000 business meters in Ekurhuelni and the metro plans to move them outside business premises for easy access.

Howard Mokwena, from Daveyton, a concerned business owner, pointed out the need to improve council owned buildings in townships.

“We need to be informed when electricity outages will take place; council owned buildings have too much red tape for leases,” he said.

“How do we know the money we pay for rent actually gets to the municipality?”

The incorrect billing issue was bought up by Vusi Nyembe, from Daveyton, who stated that the city is not coming out to check meters and that this results in incorrect billing and water being cut off without notice.

Ekurhuleni responded that, in areas such as Daveyton, electricity is supplied straight from Eskom and they would liaise with them on notices for electricity cuts.

The city is also planning on installing generators in supply areas, to ensure continuous supply of electricity.

Ngema acknowledged the problems and added that the metro is also looking into introducing a municipal ombudsman, who will be independent of the metro and will deal with complaints from the public.