KwaDukuza municipality has been ordered to tighten control over its electricity network after a National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) audit exposed serious safety risks, poor maintenance and widespread non-compliance.

The audit, conducted in May 2025 and tabled in council on Tuesday, followed a request by the Dolphin Coast Ratepayers and Residents Association (Docrra) in December last year after weeks of repeated blackouts during the festive season.

The audit found multiple faults at substations and switching stations, including broken safety signs, damaged transformers, exposed cable trenches, non-functional battery backups and missing single-line diagrams. Some transformers lacked oil catchment bays, while overgrown vegetation around mini-substations increased fire hazards.

Nersa flagged management failures, noting KwaDukuza’s electricity unit operates with a 26.9% vacancy rate, unplanned maintenance and energy losses of 26% – more than double the acceptable 5-12% range. It also found no formal emergency plan and unserviced fire extinguishers.

The municipality failed to issue required 10-day disconnection notices to small power users, has no system to monitor supply quality and lacks a clear plan to curb non-technical losses such as theft. Operating under licence NER/D/KZ292, KwaDukuza now faces potential penalties if standards are not met. NERSA has allowed 14 days to address confidential issues before follow-up inspections.

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Municipal manager Nhlanhla Mdakane said the recommendations would be implemented with urgency.

Docrra chairperson Deon Viljoen said the audit confirmed years of warnings about poor planning, inadequate safety and excessive losses.

“Plans have formed part of the rhetoric of this department for too long, with no real action to back them up. We are calling for measurable action and regular progress reports,” he said.

He also raised concerns about rising costs, delays and the lack of transparency around the Dukuza Substation tender. Docrra met with the municipality’s executive team last week to discuss the substation, as well as the RT29 Transversal contract – a National Treasury procurement programme designed to modernise municipal electricity systems.

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As part of a new accountability structure, a Nersa end-user forum (EUF) will be formed, including representatives from KDM, the iLembe Chamber of Commerce and Docrra, with a first meeting expected in the next two weeks.

“The audit, the pending forum and recent engagements with KDM mark a significant starting point towards the collaborative structures we have needed for so long,” said Viljoen.

iLembe Chamber CEO Cobus Oelofse welcomed the EUF establishment, saying it “will enable the business community to play a more active role in influencing energy regulation.”

Oelofse said the KDM Southern Electrical Network Task Team would continue to focus on ensuring network stability ahead of the upcoming festive season.

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