A formal audit into the municipality’s failing electricity network has begun, following months of blackouts and mounting pressure from residents.

This was announced by the Dolphin Coast Residents and Ratepayers’ Association (Docrra) following a meeting with the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) and KwaDukuza Municipality’s (KDM) leadership last Tuesday to launch the audit process.

“This is a major step forward in addressing the electricity crisis that has affected our community since last December,” said Docrra chairperson Deon Viljoen.

The crisis began in December with a cable fault at the Driefontein substation. This was followed by further failures, including a 40-hour blackout caused by water damage to another cable.

Some areas suffered outages lasting over 72 hours, heavily impacting residents and businesses during the festive season. Docrra then wrote an official complaint to Nersa, with a request for a complete audit to ensure that KDM is fulfilling the responsibilities that come with its licence. Viljoen said Nersa has begun formal engagements with KDM and is expected to conduct physical inspections of the municipality’s electricity infrastructure. The audit will examine both technical standards and service quality. Any non-compliance may lead to corrective action or even a tribunal hearing.

Viljoen also confirmed that the KDM Southern Grid Electrical Task Team, led by the iLembe Chamber of Commerce, will act as the public forum for community engagement on electricity issues.

“This is a long-overdue measure, and one we have been calling for since the start of the crisis. We hope it will improve transparency and communication between KDM and the community,” he said.

KDM has agreed to submit key documents requested by Docrra in January, including the asset register, maintenance plans and staffing details. These must be provided by Friday, May 16, with Nersa monitoring compliance. The issue of energy losses was also raised, with KDM reporting losses of 26% – well above the 6-12% industry norm.

“The community cannot continue to carry the financial burden of poor technical and management practices,” said Viljoen.

It was also acknowledged that KDM’s current communication with residents during outages falls short of licence standards. He further thanked Docrra’s electricity sub committee volunteers for their stirling work engaging with NERSA. KDM and Nersa had not responded at the time of publication

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