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The main reason behind the widespread electricity outages is the volatile temporary electricity connections in open trenches due to lengthy delays in finalising contracts with service providers.
Newly-elected executive mayor, Gary van Niekerk, said that material to fix electricity faults permanently could not be acquired due to a year-long delay in getting a service level agreement in place with the successful contractor.
“This resulted in electricity faults being fixed only on a temporary basis, with the dangerously open trenches a major hazard for residents and children in particular.
“Over the last month, persistent rain resulted in electricity outages when the trenches became waterlogged.
Especially the Northern Areas and Ibhayi are affected.
“In addition, R4 million has still been outstanding for months to the two main electricity contractors responsible for keeping the power on in our homes.
“I am therefore perturbed that those responsible for governing the institution then are now claiming to be saviours on social media, while their ineptitude led us to where we are now.
“When I became aware of this, I immediately addressed the community and started to work towards a solution.
“The executive director for Electricity and Energy, Luvuyo Magalela, doubled the teams from two to four to restore supply in the Northern Areas. He indicated that 15 faults are repaired daily, while hundreds of complaints are still outstanding.
