A new substation planned to bring relief for power outage plagued ward 22 residents (Chaka’s Rock, Salt Rock and Sheffield), could take up to 3 years to complete.

The project is currently at tender stage.

Tensions flared at the ward 22 public meeting last Wednesday where the state of electrical infrastructure for Salt Rock was discussed at a fully-packed country club.

With power outages having plagued the area for years, and residents regularly without power for more than a day, the meeting was told that KwaDukuza needed an additional 20 megavolt amps to keep up with demand.

Major electrical network refurbishment projects to the tune of R341-million have also been given the green-light by the KwaDukuza municipality, but this is subject to a final go-ahead by treasury at provincial level.

This project is expected to take 4 years to complete and would cover the entire KDM electrical network.

In the short term, switchgear protection units at the Chaka’s Rock substation and switch rooms at Thompsons Bay and The Village should be completed by June next year.

Defending the municipality after being accused of slow response times, KwaDukuza electrical department executive director, Sibusiso Jali, said not all sub-stations were managed internally.

“Sometime we have to wait for Eskom repair crews to arrive from New Germany or Empangeni, especially when major repairs are needed,” said Jali.

Issues which often led to a prolonged return of power, according to Jali, included ageing infrastructure, loadshedding-induced faults and weather.

These factors also contributed to local power outages. Jali said the Covid-19 pandemic had further impacted responses with a shortage of imported materials for repairs.

Taking questions from the public, Jali heard that faith had been lost in his department.

“We suggest a community watchdog be appointed at KDM, which would in turn report back to the community about what is being done,” said Simbithi Eco-Estate general manager, Malcolm Samuel.

Ward 22 cllr Privi Makhan said the municipality would be open to proposals of a watchdog.

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