eMBALENHLE – Municipal load shedding is a reminder for the residents of eMbalenhle that winter is approaching.
Residents are tired of false promises about the upgrading of the Bracken substation to assist in electricity supply at eMbalenhle.
Mr Nhlakanipho Zuma, the executive mayor of the Govan Mbeki Municipality, met with Eskom on 16 March to discuss the Bracken transformer with the aim of increasing the capacity of electricity supply to eMbalenhle.
According to municipal communications department, Mr Zuma met with Mr Collin Reddy, the general manager of Eskom responsible for electricity distribution in Mpumalanga and Limpopo.
This was apparently a final stage to implement the Bracken transformer project.
It will resume no later than 31 March 2021 and is expected to be concluded within 120 days.
Some community members are questioning the timing. They want to know why electricity projects that are supposed to help the eMbalenhle residents are always tackled when the winter is about to begin.
The residents want to know why this was not done during the summer when the demand was less.
“There was a project under Bigen Africa which also began in winter years ago. We thought it would bring us relief.
“The politicians and municipal officials hid behind this project, and promised that when Bigen completed the project, our electricity situation would be better.
“Bigen has gone and we are still in crisis. Now they came up with another excuse – the Bracken transformer.
“When Bigen was busy installing poles from Bracken to eMbalenhle, did the politicians and officials fail to see that a transformer was needed before they can switch on that Bracken substation?” asked Mr Sipho Thanjekwayo, a community member.
The previous executive mayor, Ms Thandi Ngxonono, announced two years ago that the council appointed Bigen Africa to address the electricity crisis in eMbalenhle.
The company was mandated to build two 11kV double circuit chickadee lines from the Bracken station to the existing municipal ring switching stations to address the current capacity shortage of 10MVA.
It was said that Bigen Africa will also bridge the Eskom cost to ensure that adequate supply is made available.
The additional capacity was planned to supply to ring main sub 3 and 4 of the municipal switching station to assist with the overloading of Langverwacht substation.
The project was also supposed to create jobs for the locals.
It was said that Bigen Africa had committed to developing a masterplan for the municipality in order to raise more money to improve service delivery.
eMbalenhle is supplied solely by the Langverwaght substation at Ext 5, which according to the municipality, is fed from the Eskom MTS sol 132/22kV by two 20MKV transformers using wolf lines.
A lack of transmission capacity on the said lines, and also delayed response to an increase in electricity demand have led to the electrical crisis within the area and all municipal switching stations are exceeding their Notified Maximum Demand (NMD).
During winter, municipal load shedding is applied to deal with the existing shortage of capacity of about 10MVA at peak hours every day.
This caused unrest among the residents of eMbalenhle.
According to Govan Mbeki Municipality, there was a need to upgrade, refurbishment and upgrading of electrical infrastructure with constant planned maintenance.
“The municipality is facing multiple electricity challenges, including demand and supply imbalances, ageing infrastructure, services backlog, cost recovery, insufficiencies and overall lack of funding.”
The institution said the current lack of capacity in eMbalenhle is identified as a huge crisis and the municipality’s financial constraints have further compromised the ability to meet the electricity demand.
The municipality is applying load shedding in order to manage electricity demand.
According to a reliable source, Bigen Africa has left the area, but the electricity situation has not changed.
The community is still facing electricity outages when it is cold or raining.
The new executive mayor, Mr Zuma, said Bigen Africa has completed its work and the municipality is in talks with Eskom because they want a permanent solution, which is a permanent transformer.
“We had a meeting with Eskom on Monday, 11 January, and agreed to meet after our council sitting whereby the council will approve a repayment plan of R2.3-billion we owe to Eskom,” said Mr Zuma.
Mr Zuma said after a repayment plan is arranged with Eskom, they will begin to do what is supposed to be done at Bracken substation by installing the required transformer, but the residents should not expect this to happen in one day.
“This is an 18-months-job, but we will push it to be completed in six months.”
The mayor said for now the municipality will add transformers at eMbalenhle to minimise the annual winter challenge, and they will divide electricity through load shedding, especially in those problematic areas.
