By Marius Opperman – DA Councillor in Thaba Chweu Local Municipality
- Thaba Chweu has only one line stick for its electricians.
- Electricians are unable to timeously respond to emergencies.
- In a letter, we have asked the Municipal Manager to address this shortage.
13 August 2026
Release: Immediate
The Democratic Alliance in Thaba Chweu calls on the Municipal Manager, Roy Makwakwa, to urgently undertake a comprehensive assessment of the municipality’s Technical Department to determine their operations and the tools of trade at their disposal.
This comes after it emerged that electrical engineers in the municipality are operating with only one line stick. This goes to show that the municipality has resource challenges and a lack of accountability from those responsible for managing municipal operations.
Municipal employees cannot be expected to provide reliable services when management fails to provide them with the most basic working equipment.
A line stick is not a luxury item for an electrician working on an electricity network. It is an essential safety and operational tool used, among other things, when replacing blown fuses on overhead electricity lines.
Currently, in Thaba Chweu, if an electrician is working in Coromandel with the municipality’s only line stick, the next electrician in Potloodspruit, which is 25 kilometres away, will need to wait.
The DA reiterates that the municipality cannot operate effectively when managers sit in offices and are absent while frontline employees are forced to improvise because essential equipment is unavailable.
With this in mind, we have asked the Municipal Manager to assess the kind of equipment each artisan team requires to perform its duties effectively and ensure that managers who fail to ensure that there are enough tools for repairs and emergencies are held to account.
The municipality’s negligence has caused businesses to lose productivity, residents to lose appliances and food. Elderly and vulnerable residents are placed under additional pressure. And public confidence in the municipality has deteriorated even further.
We will not relent until our technicians are fully equipped. The DA will continue to expose failures in municipal management and will continue to fight for a municipality where service delivery comes first. Thaba Chweu does not need more excuses. It needs competent management, properly equipped artisans and accountability.
Media Enquiries:
Marius Opperman
DA Councillor Thaba Chweu Local Municipality
079 974 1737