Buffalo City Blackouts

Dear Editor

The Buffalo City Municipality (BCM) must embark on an audit of all electrical infrastructure to ensure that residents do not have to endure protracted blackouts such as those experienced earlier this week.

The Democratic Alliance raised the issue in council today, calling on Mayor Princess Faku to take the necessary steps to capacitate the electricity department to conduct the necessary maintenance of electrical infrastructure. We also called for a full report on the current state of our electrical infrastructure to be tabled at the next council meeting.

Residents across the Metro were in crisis mode for over 40 hours during a recent blackout. Emergency services were stretched to breaking point, businesses closed, and learners either wrote exams in the dark or were sent home. Individuals battled to save food from non-functioning refrigerators, unable to cook unless they had gas stoves or made a fire.

The DA wants to commend the city’s electricity department for the hard work and dedication that they have shown in implementing state-mandated loadshedding to prevent a total grid collapse.

Electricians have also gone above and beyond to restore power when faults occur and circuits trip when re-energising lines at the end of a loadshedding block.

However, as electricians are being diverted from their core maintenance and repair functions to implement loadshedding, we are seeing a significant deterioration in our electricity infrastructure. This, coupled with the fact that BCM has not been able to do routine maintenance during this financial year because the maintenance budget has been used for emergency repairs, as well as the losses due to vandalism and theft of electrical infrastructure, means an audit of the electricity infrastructure is critical.

The reality is that bulk electrical infrastructure is not designed to be switched off and on at will. Faults are becoming more commonplace, substations are catching fire, and in worst-case scenarios, people are stranded without power for days!

The switching gear needs to be maintained, inspections must be done, and lines must be kept clear of brush, among others.

In approving municipal electricity tariffs, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) allows a portion of the tariff for repairs and maintenance. The reality is that this portion is often abused, as it is not ring-fenced solely for electrical infrastructure.

BCM residents are paying some of the country’s highest electricity costs but do not see any benefits.

The DA is calling for immediate, urgent steps to be taken to safeguard our electrical infrastructure from further collapse. As we enter winter months, with loadshedding expected to worsen, failure to do so could have disastrous consequences.

Regards

Cllr Anathi Majeke
DA Buffalo City Caucus Chief Whip