Q&A with Msimanga: Nersa has the power

1. Honourable Mr S Msimanga. In Soshanguve, we are already paying too much for electricity from the municipality. In July there is an increase.

Why can’t municipalities leave the control of electricity to Eskom to supply customers directly?

My concern is that the electricity we buy from Tshwane Municipality is just getting too expensive. – TJ Mnisi, Soshanguve Block H.

Mayor Msimanga: The supply of electricity anywhere in South Africa is regulated by the National Electricity Regulator of South Africa (Nersa).

The licence to supply electricity in the Tshwane area is given by Nersa to the City of Tshwane and Eskom; where in some areas like Mapobane, some areas of Winterveld, Nkangala, Garankuwa and some farm areas around Tshwane are getting electricity from Eskom.

The differences in tariffs are caused by differences in financial years of the entities. Eskom has their financial year running from April 1 to March 30, whereas municipalities are from July 1 to June 30.

When a new financial year begins, new tariffs are implemented and this causes disparities in municipalities’ and Eskom’s tariffs.

Above that, all tariffs that any distributor charges to the consumers get approved by Nersa before implementation.

2. Dear honourable Mayor: The Eersterust Ratepayers and Residents Association received numerous complaints with regards to streetlights not working.

The CPF sent me a message that John Sydney streetlights are off. There are also individuals who sent in some of these complaints.

We also planned a public meeting with regards to the housing shortage, the aged infrastructure and service delivery issues, but had to postpone it until after the Eldorado Park, Ennerdale, Lawley and Laudium violent protests.

We do not want that type of protest action, we wanted a meeting with the public, the councillor and the housing MMC to address these concerns.

Uprisings and violent protests are usually the result of councillors not engaging the public, keeping a community in the dark. – Pastor William Japhta.

Mayor Msimanga: We have noticed that there is a high demand for affordable rental within the city that outweighs the supply.

The city has developed a project pipeline that will ensure that the affordable rental market is catered for. We are working with the provincial government to ensure that a range of housing opportunities are available for different income levels and speeding up the delivery of title deeds to state-subsided housing so that recipients have legal ownership of their homes.

In order to achieve this, the city is committed to working closer with its stakeholders; Gauteng department of human settlements, Social Housing Regulatory Authority, Gauteng Partnership Fund and other relevant stakeholders in order to derive benefits that accrue from working together.

We are committed to dealing with the infrastructure that the former administration made no provision for and allowed to suffer from years of neglect with respect to preventative infrastructure maintenance.

To put this in context, a meagre 4% was allocated for preventative maintenance of water infrastructure.

For a metro this size, it is almost criminal because that has real and meaningful implications on the city’s ability to deal speedily with water interruptions.

To address this, in part, R1.3 billion has been set aside for the 2017-18 financial year to maintain and repair infrastructure which will be the backbone of our developmental agenda.

On the issue of non-functional streetlights, residents must report them by calling 080-1111- 556, 012-358-9999 (24 hours), or sending an email to streetlights@tshwane.gov.za.

Provide the following information when reporting faulty street lights:

• Physical address;
• Street corner nearest to faulty street light;
• Street light pole number;
• Details/nature of the problem; and
• Contact details of caller.

NEXT WEEK

Mzwandile Masina, mayor of Ekurhuleni, responds to your questions.

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