Note to Editors: Find attached soundbites in English and Afrikaans by DA NCOP Member of the North West Ad-Hoc Committee on Section 100 Intervention, Carìn Visser.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in North West will write to the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, requesting her to urgently address the poor maintenance of electricity infrastructure by the Tswaing Local Municipality, as well as its violation of disaster management regulations.
This follows after a devastating fire, caused by an electrical surge, destroyed resident Sanet Venter’s home on Sunday. (See pictures here and here)
The DA has long warned the authorities at the Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality that urgent steps need to be taken to ensure that all municipalities under its curatorship has access to a fire station, but this was to no avail.
The fact that the Provincial Department of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA) is under administration in terms of Section 100(1)(b) has had no positive effect on services delivered by poor performing municipalities such as Tswaing.
During the Minister’s appearance before the NCOP Ad-Hoc Committee on Section 100 Intervention last week, she simply shrugged her shoulders at the ongoing factional infighting among ANC members within municipalities, which is one of the main causes of poor service delivery.
Since the inception of this intervention in 2018, the Tswaing Local Municipality made no attempts to restore and maintain the electrical infrastructure, which has led to the unreliable power supply that residents are forced to endure on a daily basis.
The constant, uneven power surges damage consumers’ electrical appliances and ultimately led to the fire that destroyed Mrs Venter’s home.
The DA again reiterates that the lack of quality power supply by municipalities to paying consumers is an infringement of their constitutional rights and should be labelled as a criminal offence.
The DA wishes Mrs Venter all the best after such a tremendous loss and will monitor developments to ensure that the Tswaing Local Municipality fulfils its responsibilities to residents.