Address power outage issues or we go off the grid, warns Kruger Lowveld Chamber of Business and Tourism

Do something now about the collapse of the City’s electrical network, or we will.

This was the stern warning by Linda Grimbeek, COO of the Kruger Lowveld Chamber of Business and Tourism (KLCBT).

This comes only days before the Alternative Energy Info and Expo. One of the most important information sessions then will be the presentation by Wiseman Khumalo, the City of Mbombela’s municipal manager.

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The KLCBT feels that since a community meeting was also held a year ago, when the community took on the municipality about the disruptive and untimely electricity blackouts, no or at least very little progress seemed to have been made on the commitments made by Khumalo and the mayor, Sibongile Makushe-Mazibuko, besides a report of the network crisis being drawn up, and some possible aspects to rectify the cause of the breakdowns being given.

The chamber said nobody knows what progress was made, if any, and those who might know, do not speak about it.

During the crisis meeting, the municipality committed itself to have regular public meetings and give feedback to the community. Except for one press conference earlier this year, no other information was shared.

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Grimbeek says the KLCBT hopes that the coming expo will shed more light on the crisis. “Khumalo promised to give proper feedback on the current situation, which is worsened by the continuous load-shedding as well as the load reduction implemented by Eskom. The time for small talk and unreliable information sharing is past. We want to hear how the council is going to address the situation of load-shedding, which will be with us for months to come,” said Grimbeek. “They must tell us what plans are on the table to find alternative electricity solutions. If the council cant or don’t want to address the crisis, we as the private sector will take over that role.”

This one of the reasons why an array of suppliers of alternative energy will also be at the meeting next week. “Alternative energy can both solve the energy crisis and rescue municipalities from their financial crisis if they buy alternative energy at a fraction of the price of Eskom,” Grimbeek said in a press release today. “The municipality will earn millions of rand per month in extra revenue, and we will have nice stable power. If they do not capture this opportunity, we as the community and businessmen alike, will all go off the grid and they will be bankrupt, along with Eskom.”

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Steve Schormann, a DA councillor in the Ehlanzeni District Municipality, said, ”If we look at the City of Mbombela’s track record for paying the independent power producers that have Nersa licences, then there is a long way before anyone would actually trust or count on the municipality to actually pay for the electricity fed to them.”

“Yes, but they will a) be cut off immediately, not after five years, and b) they will make so much more profit that the money worries will disappear,” Grimbeek responded.

Lowvelder’s efforts these last two weeks to get a response from the municipality proved fruitless. Mandla Maseko, member of the mayoral committee for technical services, indicated that the municipality’s spokesperson, Joseph Ngala, would respond within the deadline set by Lowvelder. When this is received, the article will be updated.