Power utility, Eskom, has explained its reasons for taking over the implementation of load shedding from the City of Ekurhuleni. Eskom says Ekurhuleni failed to implement load shedding in some part of the city particularly in Benoni, Boksburg and Springs.
Power utility and Ekurhuleni have locked horns about load shedding before, with Eskom taking control of power outages in the past.
Eskom Gauteng Spokesperson, Amanda Qithi, says the city failed to provide the reasons why they’re not implementing load shedding.
“So, we are going to do a phase-in approach, but we are starting with Benoni, Boksburg and Springs. Those three areas, we will immediately, from this afternoon, 4pm, we will start to load shed them ourselves and then we’ll start freezing in the other areas,” says Qithi.
Qithi says attempts to get an explanation from Ekurhuleni about their failure to implement rolling blackouts drew a blank.
“They haven’t given us any reasons to say that they’re having difficulties in implementing. And if they can implement in the specific areas and not these three, we don’t know why because they also did not respond to say, these are the reasons why we are not implementing load shedding.”
In Johannesburg, in an attempt to recoup revenue owed to the City of Johannesburg, the metro’s power utility company, City Power has embarked on a campaign to switch off several buildings for non-payment.
City Power is owed R9 billion by residents and businesses.
The electricity disconnections are part of City Power’s weekly cut-off operation.
City Power on a campaign to switch off several buildings for non-payment:
Meanwhile, DA Gauteng provincial leader, Solly Msimanga, has slammed the EFF in Ekurhuleni for causing chaos to prevent a motion of no confidence against Executive Mayor, Sivuyile Ngodwana, last night.
ANC and EFF councillors came to blows last night’s at a council meeting over the mayor’s no confidence vote, brought by Action SA. The motion comes amid a row over the Auditor-General’s report into the city’s finances, with council members accusing the mayor and MMC of Finance Nkululeko Dunga of hiding the report.
Msimanga says the EFF interrupts the proceedings for the motion of no confidence in the mayor to collapse deliberately.
“In fact, the EFF leader in that particular caucus was screaming at the speaker to then say she’s the EFF speaker, you know, she must do the bidding on the EFF. But, you know, the law is very very clear. The rule is very, very clear around the impartiality of the speaker – the rules that the speaker must actually be following, but it was clear that there was a party line that they wanted to be told, and it made it very, very difficult for the speaker to then do what the law prescribes.”
Ekurhuleni council meeting disintegrates into chaos:
