Note to Broadcasters: Please find a linked soundbite in English by Cllr Yusuf Laher.
The DA in the Ditsobotla Local Municipality will write to Eskom’s North West Provincial Management requesting an exemption from loadshedding for the same number of days of the blackout once electricity is restored. This will provide some relief to businesses and residents who have been forced to endure this blackout after a transformer was vandalized.
On Thursday, 27 July 2023, a pylon collapsed on the main Eskom line in Lichtenburg which then led to the transformer being vandalized during the outage.
Since the beginning of the outage, the DA has been in contact with Eskom’s relevant departments, requesting answers as to when the problem would be resolved. We have also escalated the matter to a national level through our Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises, Ghaleb Chachalia, requesting him to intervene to help affected businesses.
The DA has just received an Emergency Project Plan from Eskom indicating that electricity supply should be restored by Monday, 07 August 2023. (See plan here).
It is unacceptable that the public has to date not received any official statement from Eskom clarifying the cause of the collapsed pylon or when electricity supply would be restored in Lichtenburg.
This is a glaring illustration of the ANC’s disregard for the suffering residents continue to endure because of its failure to govern effectively at national, provincial, and local government levels.
People have a choice in next year’s election to cut the ANC’s power and vote DA for fast and efficient service delivery.