eMBALENHLE – The Govan Mbeki Municipality (GMM) is working around the clock to address the electricity problems and to fast-track service delivery in the area.
These are the sentiments shared by Ms Thandi Ngxonono, executive mayor, on Friday, 29 March in Extension 7 during an electricity upgrade event.
She announced that GMM has appointed Bigen Africa as the service provider to address the current electricity crisis in eMbalenhle.
The company will bridge finance and 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.
They will also bridge finance to ensure that adequate supply is made available.
According to the information posted by the municipality on Facebook, eMbalenhle is supplied solely by Langverwagcht Substation which is fed from the Eskom MTS Sol 132/22kV by two 20MVA transformers using two 22kV Wolf lines.
The press release stated that the lack of transmission capacity on these lines and delayed response to an increase in electricity demands, has led to an electrical crisis within the area.
All municipality switching stations are exceeding their Notified Maximum Demand (NMD).
Currently, loadshedding is being applied to deal with the existing shortage of capacity of approximately 10MVA during peak hours.
Ms Ngxonono said she is happy that the municipality is responding to the needs of the people and added that she understands that the electricity has caused unrests in the community which led to many protests.
“We have followed all the processes required which has resulted to the appointment of Bigen Africa.
“We urge our community to continue being patient with us as we are working hard to deal with the electricity problems in the area.
“There is a critical need for refurbishment and upgrading of electrical infrastructure with constant planned maintenance.
“However, in order to do that we need funding.
“This a positive step and we believe that this will bring relief to the residents.
“The problem will not be solved completely but we will take it bit by bit because we need a lot of money to deal with it once and for all.”
She urged the service provider to complete the task within six months.
The company pledged their commitment and promised excellent service.
Dr Snowi Khoza, chairman of Bigen Africa, said they believe in improving quality of life by optimising the sustainable social and economic impact of infrastructure development.
She said they have committed to a balance sheet in order to implement this imperative project.
Bigen Africa will begin with community engagements in the first week of April and the actual project will begin in the second week of April.
