The Democratic Alliance (DA) calls on the Mpumalanga Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) MEC, Mandla Msibi, to intervene in the ongoing electricity challenges at the Msukaligwa Local Municipality where residents remain in the dark due to the municipality exceeding its Notified Maximum Demand (NMD) of electricity.
While the entire country has been subjected to Eskom’s rolling blackouts and in some parts load reductions which usually lasts 5 to 7 hours in a given day – residents of Msukaligwa and surrounding areas have had to endure 11 hours per day without electricity after Eskom cut their supply because of the municipality exceeding its NMD.
It is patently unfair towards Msukaligwa residents that they are subjected to load reductions, rolling blackouts and power throttling despite them paying for services and because their municipality has exceeded its NMD.
The situation these residents find themselves in is unfortunately not new. Since April 2020, load reductions in Ermelo, especially John Vorster Park, de Bruin Park, a portion of Netherland Park and parts of Wesselton have become the norm.
Just recently, residents of Lekwa took the local municipality to court after experiencing power throttling because the municipality exceeded its NMD. Acting Judge Anthony Miller maintained the position that there is an obligation on the part of Eskom to try and resolve its disputes with municipalities before taking action that brings about huge human suffering.
The judge also indicated that previous court rulings made it clear that as an organ of State, Eskom, must follow a fair process when its decision is to impose on the rights of residents.
Given the above, the DA calls on MEC Msibi to liaise with both Msukaligwa Local Municipality and Eskom and ensure that the lives of these residents are not imposed upon through power throttling on top of rolling blackouts and load reductions.
We also urge the MEC to deal with the root cause of the power throttling – the municipality exceeding the NMD and the prevalence of illegal power connections.