The North West Provincial Government, led by Premier Lazarus Mokgosi, has held an engagement session with the Council of Ditsobotla Local Municipality in Lichtenburg to address the municipality’s ongoing service delivery challenges, particularly regarding electricity supply.
During the meeting, the provincial government proposed that the struggling municipality transfer its electricity rights to Eskom, under the oversight of the Ministry of Electricity.
The special Council meeting, held on Tuesday, was attended by Premier Mokgosi, who was invited by the Council, and MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements, and Traditional Affairs (CoGHSTA), Oageng Molapisi. The visit aimed to engage directly with councillors to explore solutions to service delivery challenges.
Lichtenburg has faced severe power supply issues, including prolonged blackouts in 2023 after Eskom cut off electricity due to the municipality’s historic debt. Reports indicate that Ditsobotla Local Municipality owed Eskom over R1 billion at the time, making it one of the country’s largest defaulters.
Premier Mokgosi urged the Council to support the proposal to allow Eskom to take over the electricity supply function. He argued that this intervention would ensure an uninterrupted power supply across the municipality, as previous efforts by the local government had failed to produce the desired outcomes.
“The municipality is facing numerous challenges, and at the center of these challenges are the people we must serve,” Mokgosi said. “The municipality lacks both the financial capacity and the necessary skills to manage electricity provision. One of the options we presented was for Eskom to assume full responsibility for electricity operations to alleviate this burden.”
However, councillors expressed concerns about revenue collection from electricity supply and the potential financial implications for the municipality. To address these concerns, the parties agreed to hold a follow-up engagement session with all relevant stakeholders to discuss the details of the proposed intervention.
“We are exploring every possible avenue to stabilize this municipality,” Mokgosi emphasized. “It is essential for all of us to work together to achieve this objective.”
The upcoming engagement session will be led by Premier Mokgosi and attended by MEC for CoGHSTA, representatives from the Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality, the Ministry of Electricity, and the Department of Water and Sanitation.
The session will include discussions on a Section 154 intervention report and address questions about blocked and ongoing projects in the municipality.
“This collaborative effort aims to stabilize the municipality and ensure reliable service delivery for the residents of Ditsobotla,” Mokgosi concluded.
– SAnews.gov.za
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irish dze
Diary of an Englishman after he moves to South Africa….
**August 1**: Just got transferred with work from London, UK to our new home in Phalaborwa, Limpopo, South Africa. Now this is a town that knows how to live! Beautiful, sunny days and warm, balmy evenings. I watched the sunset from a deckchair by our pool yesterday. It was beautiful. I’ve finally found my new home. I love it here.
**September 1:** Really heating up now. It got to 31 today. No problem though. Living in air-conditioned home, driving air-conditioned car. What a pleasure to see the sun every day like this. I’m turning into a sun-worshipper – no blasted rain like back in London! Had the back yard landscaped with tropical plants today. Lots of palms and rocks. No more mowing lawns for me! Another scorcher today, but I love it here. It’s Paradise !
**October 1:** The temperature hasn’t been below 35 all week. How do people get used to this kind of heat? At least today it’s windy though. Keeps the flies off a bit. Acclimatizing is taking longer than we expected. Fell asleep by the pool yesterday. Got third degree burns over 60% of my body. Missed three days off work. What a dumb thing to do. Got to respect the old sun in a climate like this!
**October 25:** This wind is a bastard. It feels like a giant fucking blow dryer. And it’s hot as hell! The home air conditioner is on the blink and the repair man charged R200 just to drive over and tell me he needs to order parts from @#$# Johannesburg. The wife & the kids are complaining.
**October 30:** The temperature’s up around 40 and the parts still haven’t arrived for the fucking air conditioner. House is an oven so we’ve all been sleeping outside by the pool for 3 nights now. Bleeding R4 million house and we can’t even go inside. Why the hell did I ever come here?
**November 4:** Finally got the fucking air-conditioner fixed. It cost R1,500 and gets the temperature down to around 35 degrees. Stupid repairman. Fucking thief. If one more smart bastard says ‘Hot enough for you today?’ I’m going to fucking throttle him. Fucking heat! By the time I get to work, the car radiator is boiling over, my fucking clothes are soaking fucking wet and I smell like baked cat. Fucking place is the end of the Earth.
**November 9:** Tried to run some errands after work, wore shorts, and sat on the black leather upholstery in my car. I thought my fucking backside was on fire. I lost 2 layers of flesh, all the hair on the backs of my legs and off my fucking behind. Now the car smells like burnt hair, fried bum and baked cat. The Weather report might as well be a fucking recording – hot and sunny. Hot and sunny, Hot and fucking sunny. It’s been too hot to do anything for 2 bleeding months and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week. Fuck!!
**November 15:** Doesn’t it ever rain in this darn place? Water restrictions will be next, so my R5,000 worth of palms might just dry up and blow into the fucking pool. The only things that thrive in this hell-hole are the fucking flies. You don’t dare open your mouth for fear of swallowing half a dozen of the little buzzards!
**November 20:** Welcome to HELL! It got to 45 degrees today. Now the air conditioner is gone in my car. The repair man came to fix it and said, ‘Hot enough for you today?’ I wanted to shove the car up his backside. Anyway, had to spend the R2,500 of the mortgage payment to bail me out of jail for assaulting the stupid fool. Fucking PHALABORWA! What kind of sick, demented idiot would want to live here!
**December 1:** WHAT!!!! The FIRST day of Summer!!!!
You are fucking kidding me, right?
Feral Mayhem
Fun South African Fact: South Africa has continuously paid tribute to Dr Christiaan Barnard’s groundbreaking medical achievements.