The Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) in Ekurhuleni says poor prioritisation in the procurement of energy supplies is killing the City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) Energy Department’s performance.

Denise Janse van Rensburg of the FF Plus said the party obtained an audit report from the department that revealed at least R65m worth of inventory is gathering dust at the Energy Department depots.
Some of the multiple millions of rand worth of inventory are R14m worth of less sought-after items that remain unused and gathering dust as far as 2022. The basic and most sought-after items such as light bulbs are not available – negatively affecting service delivery and public safety.

She pointed out unused inventory in the depots included prepaid single-phase meters to the value of R25m; diesel to the value of R15m; green refuse bags to the value of R13m; and network rotators costing R13.6m.
“The department uses these items but not as often as emergency repair materials.”

The party intends to propose a motion in council, requesting inventory audits and investigations at all the city’s energy department depots to determine whether there are shenanigans in the procurement procedures.
The CoE has not yet responded to our request for comment.

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