Note to Broadcasters: Please find attached soundbites in English by Cobus Nortje
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is alarmed by the escalating electricity crisis in Rustenburg, which has become a clear example of poor planning and reactive governance at the Rustenburg Local Municipality.
On Thursday, 12 February, the Mbeki and Van Belkum minisub failed, and by Friday, 13 February, the minisub at 63 Dawes also failed, leaving multiple sections of the community without electricity.
During this period, the Electrical Unit Manager indicated that suppliers were closed because it was the weekend. Residents were therefore expected to wait without electricity while critical infrastructure failures persisted. Essential services cannot operate on a weekday-only basis. Electricity is not a luxury, it is a basic necessity for safety, food preservation, healthcare, and economic activity.
On Monday, 16 February, new transformers were installed at both affected mini-subs. Shockingly, these replacements lasted only a few hours before both units failed again. In the early hours of Tuesday, 17 February, the entire mini-sub at 63 Dawes burned out completely, worsening the outage.
Another new transformer was installed at the Mbeki and Van Belkum mini-sub, and a complete new mini-sub unit was installed at 63 Dawes. The installation at 63 Dawes was only completed on the evening of 18 February, nearly a week after the initial failures.
This sequence of events raises serious concerns about:
- The quality and suitability of replacement equipment
- Infrastructure maintenance standards
- The adequacy of emergency stock levels
- Contingency planning for weekends and after-hours failures
- Oversight and technical assessment before installations
It is unacceptable that residents must endure repeated outages due to what appears to be reactive crisis management rather than preventative planning.
In municipalities governed by the DA, such as the Cape Town, electricity infrastructure is managed through:
- Proactive and preventative maintenance programmes
- Strategic stock control systems to prevent critical shortages
- 24/7 operational readiness for essential services
- Clear escalation protocols during emergencies
- Transparent communication with residents
- Accountability when systems fail
These are not extraordinary standards, they are basic governance principles.
Electricity is fundamental to dignity, safety, and economic stability. Residents cannot continue to suffer because of stock depletion, administrative delays, and weekend limitations.
Rustenburg residents deserve competent leadership, proper infrastructure management, and accountability at every level.