Daily power cuts a strong possibility
Eskom will cut off the power from 5 June for eight hours from Monday to Friday.
Lekwa Municipality is one of the 20 municipalities countrywide that are currently owing Eskom.
The municipality owes them R231-million since the beginning of April.
Eskom will cut the power off for eight hours from Monday to Friday from 5 June.
Residents will be affected by this including businesses, schools and the municipality.
While some businesses have generators for back-up, some are without what has now become a necessity.
According to Mr Haroon Ibrahim, a gift shop owner, he does not have a generator, but will have to buy one if needed.
Mr Mohamed Ibrahim from Clasics said they do not have a generator and all his equipment requires electricity to function.
“I’ll have to buy one and need a big one which will cost about R70 000.”
One of the well-known restaurants in town also does not have generator and is worried about what Eskom will do.
According to one of the directors of a major company, they have a generator, but can not afford to keep it running the whole day.
“This is going to be difficult to all businesses because generators are expensive and it is also expensive to keep them on,” he said.
He also said they have been paying for electricity and asked where that money is. “It’s better to buy electricity directly from Eskom because the municipality misuses the money.”
The police are also concerned about the crime rate during this period.
According to Lt Fanie Nhlabathi, the number of crimes increases when there is no electricity.
“Robbery cases increase because most alarms require electricity to function,” Lt Nhlabathi said.
He also said they will encounter problems at the station because the generator only supplies power to the charge office.
According to him the police will need to monitor the whole town and be as visible as possible.
Schools will also be affected by this because more schools are using technology for lessons.
Computer centres in schools will not work and the day-to-day administration will also not take place.
According to Mr Johannes van der Wath, DA councillor, residents need to know the power cut will not only affect the lights and their appliances.
The sewage pumps need electricity to work, as well as the treatment plant.
He said Ms Caroline Morajane, mayor, told them the municipality has made arrangements to pay Eskom during a council meeting on 30 April.
“I later discovered that 10 municipalities made arrangements with Eskom and Lekwa is not one of them,” Mr Van der Wath also said.
According to Mr Linda Tshabalala, Lekwa municipal manager, the municipality has submitted payment plans to Eskom, but Eskom has not signed them.
“I will meet with Eskom in eMalahleni (Witbank) to discuss this issue,” he said.
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