GMM offices reopen in eMbalenhle

The Govan Mbeki Municipality offices reopened after being burnt down in a violent protest two years ago.

This was the second time residents set these offices alight. The previous time the offices were burnt down was in the 2017 service delivery protest.

Residents who were in the middle of a harsh winter, riddled with municipal load reductions and other services-related issues, demanded their electricity be supplied directly from Eskom, cutting out the municipality.

Vehicles from the municipal fleet parked in the yard at the municipal offices, including waste collection trucks, were also destroyed when the offices were torched. The damages amounted to millions of rand.

The then Govan Mbeki Executive Mayor Thandi Ngxonono, launched the Bracken substation project and conducted a soil-turning event at the ring-feed 3 substation where she told residents they had appointed Bigen Africa to work on electricity upgrades at eMbalenhle.

The municipality rebuilt and refurnished the eMbalenhle offices in 2019, but it was again set on fire during a protest about electricity in 2021.

Office equipment such as chairs and computers were also snatched. This led the municipality to procure a mobile transformer to minimise the electricity outages in eMbalenhle.

Current Mayor Nhlakanipho Zuma said at the arrival of the mobile transformer that residents need to pay because electricity does not come for free and the municipality has to pay its debt to Eskom.

Though eMbalenhle is now receiving electricity from two sources, the Ext 5 substation and the Bracken mobile transformer, the residents’ electricity woes were far from over.

The mobile transformer was bought to alleviate the overloading of the substation.

However, it was reported in June last year Ext 4, 9, 12, 15 and part of Ext 14 and Welas, connected to the mobile transformer, were without power due to a blown gasket and oil leak.

Eskom’s technical team found the transformer was damaged and had to be replaced.

Residents were without electricity for almost a week while the tests on the mobile transformer were conducted.

After several days, the municipality decided to reconnect the affected extensions back to the already overloaded Ext 5 substation.

A new mobile transformer was eventually found and reconnected.

However, some residents are sceptical about the end of their electricity problems, especially with load-shedding and the upcoming winter.

“I hope the new offices will not be burnt down again,” said a resident.

The operating hours for these offices are Monday to Friday from 07:30 to 16:00, but pay points and billing enquiries close at 15:30.

The offices are open on Saturdays from 07:30 to 11:30 for pay points and billing enquiries only.

The municipality urges community members to protect this vital infrastructure to ensure they have easy access to municipal services.