Note to Editors: Please find the attached soundbite in English and Afrikaans by Cllr Maritha Coetzee, DA Councillor in the City of Matlosana.
The DA in Matlosana will write to the Municipal Manager (MM), Theetsi Nkhumise, after residents in Hartbeesfontein spent at least six days without electricity after a mini substation was stripped bare during load shedding last week Wednesday. See photos here and here.
Following the theft, the DA immediately reported the incident to the municipality for urgent repairs. An electrician responsible for the Hartbeesfontein area immediately came out to attend to the substation.
The electrician tried his best to temporarily fix the problem, but due to a shortage of spare parts, had to wait for a new and complete mini substation to be purchased. Mini substations are built on request.
A request was then made, but due to the horrible financial state that the municipality finds itself in, the request could not be attended to speedily.
The DA understands that certain procurement processes need to be followed since the substation was to be obtained from Johannesburg, but it is disheartening that the municipality did not fast-track the process forcing residents to spend a long weekend in the dark.
As a result of this, residents have suffered financial losses to replace spoiled meat and other perishables and businesses had to incur additional costs to purchase diesel to run generators.
The dominance of the ANC in Matlosana has made them complacent when it comes to addressing service delivery issues. Residents are left to spend days without a basic necessity such as water and electricity when the administration should instead be working hard to fast-track repairs.
Where the DA governs in the City of Cape Town, service delivery calls such as fixing substations are attended to timeously to ensure that residents are not inconvenienced through extended delays.