It has been an eventful week for Standerton with the Lekwa Municipality receiving a multitude of complaints about electricity and water, police attending to a number of burning-of tyres-protests, as well as the forming of a Standerton Ratepayers Association on Monday, 15 June.
The newly-formed non-political association is in the hands of Messrs Fanie Potgieter en Gary van Aswegen as respectively chairman and vice-chairman, with Wilhelm Prinsloo occupying the portfolio of treasurer.
Its secretary is Ms Rozanne van Deventer, media spokesman, Ms Wilma Venter, the political side will be handled by Mr Ronald Tsotetsi, social side by Mr Pheelo Mlotshwa and Ms Venter, technical side by Messrs Gabriel Mogale and Sizwe Dlamini, Mr Conrad Cloete is at the helm of the legal side and the supporting team consists of Messrs Yunus Omar and Louis Bibbey.
Their next step is the forming of sub-committees and task teams and they will rope in experts in their respective fields.
Also read: Ratepayers Association comments on electricity situation in Standerton
In a strong-worded statement the treasurer appealed to the community last week for financial support in taking legal action, saying the municipality is playing the community like puppets at the expense of business, families and livelihoods.
The Standerton Advertiser attended a press briefing at the council chambers in Mbonani Mayisela Street on Thursday, 18 June where the two main issues, namely electricity and water were addressed.
Mr Linda Dhlamini, mayor, who chaired the meeting, referred to Eskom’s communique wherein it said that the energy provider no longer allows the municipality to exceed the contracted, notified, maximum demand of 55MVA.
The implications are dire in that the whole town and township will be without power.
Apart from the fact that Eskom can only send technicians between 8am and 4pm, nobody is available on public holidays.
When talking about the Eskom-account, Mr Dhlamini said the underlying factors contributing to the debt are faulty and bridged meters in Lekwa, as well as illegal connections.
The categories of large, medium and low consumers were touched on where buying patterns can be seen.
“We need to embark on an intensive programme to regulate the load,” he added.
“It is in our own hands to turn the corner and we can not turn a blind eye to electricity theft.”
Also read: Standerton residents invite senior legal counsel to map the way forward
Lekwa has already begun disconnection illegal connections as published on the website of the newspaper and it will continue.
Inspection of bridged meters at businesses and residences will be done and electricity meters installed.
The mayor invited the community to participate and mentioned the discovery of 36 houses in Kosmospark where meters have been tampered with.
The rotational load shedding schedule came under the spotlight as well.
Regarding water supply and the quality thereof, he said that Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) has appointed a water technologist to deal with the water quality and that spot-checks were done.
Also read: Kleur van Standerton se water bevraagteken
A total of 10 tankers will also supply water to areas such as Phalama Section, Caledon Street, Ext 5, Rookoppen, Standerton Correctional Services and Wards 8, 9 and 12.
“Some water losses might be contributed to water leakages. Some potholes are formed because of leakages.”
Tankers, in his opinion, should be a short-term intervention since it has a direct impact on revenue enhancement.
Angry protesters went on the rampage in Sakhile the evening of 19 June and according to information, damaged several substations.
The association in the meantime issued a statement, urging the community not to damage any property.
WhatsApp-groups were abuzz with conflicting opinions as regards electricity such as petitioning to buy electricity from Eskom directly or going the legal route.
Ms Sithi Silosini, PR-councillor from the DA, argued that council needs to be dissolved and by-elections be held.
The former option involves intervention through a Section 139 1 (c) of the Constitution.
According to Ms Silosini, local government elections have been postponed to 2024 and the newspaper attempted to contact her on Saturday, 20 June but was unsuccessful.
Also read: Frustrations about service delivery in Standerton heighten
