The fight over electricity license continues in eMbalenhle

eMBALENHLE – The eMbalenhle Residents Association have vowed not to back down until the electricity license is relinquished back to Eskom.

They met with the office of the premier, Ms Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane, at Graceland Hotel Casino and Country Club on Wednesday, 31 July.

The eMbalenhle Residents Association were nominated by the residents to represent them.

The office of the premier was represented by Mr Cleophus Mamye.

The residents said they are of the view that the municipality have failed to adhere to the license condition and therefore their license must be revoked.

The license conditions require the license holder to provide quality supply and service, which the municipality is failing to do.

The license also requires that the holder must maintain ring-fenced accounts for electricity business. A ring-fence is a virtual barrier that segregates part of an individual’s or company’s financial assets from the rest.

It also requires that the holder must prepare and adhere to plans, such as maintenance schedules and a master plan.

The association informed Mr Mamye that they are not impressed with the manner in which Govan Mbeki Municipality is handling the matter.

They requested that the office of the premier follow up with the municipality about the progress on the matter.

They demanded Council to answer as to why they have not begun the process of relinquishing the municipality’s electricity license to Eskom as per their resolution dated 29 June.

It was resolved that the municipal manager, Mr Felani Mndebele, must begin the process of relinquishing the license as per Section 18 (2) of the Electricity Regulation Act, Act 4 of 2006.

An ad-hoc committee comprising of five councillors namely, Mr N Zulu, Mr Dan Nhlapho, Mr John Nkosi, Ms Mariaan Chamberlain and Mr Thabiso Mofokeng, was established to manage the process of relinquishing the license.

They were also tasked to draft terms of reference to be tabled to the Council for approval.

Mr John Nkosi, spokesman of the association, said they were informed that the ad-hoc committee never attended to the matter and and that is why they are requesting the intervention of the premier office.

“It was the premier who promised the masses who had gathered that at Risko Fakude Stadium that the process of reliquishing the license will commence.

“She promised that she will assist the Council as soon the resolution was taken.

“Her office acknowledged that they were wrong for not following up, but they have promised to act on the matter.”

Mr Nkosi said the community is aware of the upgrading of the substation and they appreciate it.

The community is unhappy because they were not updated by the municipality.

The association is calling on Council to ensure that residents form part of the steering community.

“Mr Mamye promised that he will revert to us within seven working days and we will take from there.

“Will then go back to the community and give feedback.”

The association is also waiting for a response from the chapter 9 institution after they had approached the office of the Public Protector, Human Rights Commission to investigate the Govan Mbeki Municipality and National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) about the electricity crisis in the area.

This came after the association discovered that Nersa has allegedly not conducted audits at the GMM since 2011. The association said Nersa should be investigated, because it failed to exercise its constitutional obligation which requires them to audit all license holders annually.

The association finds it suspicious that despite the electricity problems in the area, Nersa has not “bothered” to audit the municipality.

According to the association, when the audit was done in 2011, the municipal compliance rating was 29 per cent.

“We have full confidence in these institutions and that they will get to the bottom of this.”

https://www.citizen.co.za/ridge-times/143100/gmm-mayor-positive-power-problems-will-fixed-embalenhle/