DA welcomes placing of Lekwa under administration

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DA welcomes placing of Lekwa under administration
ON A LEASH: Premier Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane has decided to place the beleaguered Lekwa municipality under administration. PICTURE BY 013NEWS/ZK

The new administration is asked to prioritise the electricity crisis in the area.


The DA in the Lekwa municipality in Standerton says they were hoping that Premier Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane’s government will deal with the electricity crisis as it impacts on water availability after the beleaguered municipality was placed under administration a week ago.

DA councillor Sithi Silosini said this is the third time that the municipality is placed under administration since 2010.

Silosini said the municipality is faced with constant power cuts due to it owing money to Eskom.

He said last year the municipality tried to approach Eskom and asked for its notified maximum demand (NMD) increased from 55 NMD to 80 NMD. 

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“The municipality had hoped to further increase this to 110 NMD which Eskom refused as it needs a commitment of R200 million first to do this,” he said.

Tsipane on 7 April 2021 announced that her government took the decision to uplift the intervention on JS Moroka local municipality in Siyabuswa after noting “positive developments”.

She also announced that the Dipaleseng local municipality in Balfour will be investigated for a range of allegations involving financial mismanagement.

Tsipane said the placing of Lekwa under administration was informed by the instability in that municipality which impacts service delivery.

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Silosini said if current debts are not solved with urgency the residents of Lekwa will suffer winter electricity cuts again this year.

“The residents will have to brace themselves for yet another cold and dark winter,” Silosini said.

The current NMD which stands at 55 was putting residents and especially business owners “under severe stress as they try to keep afloat while incurring high operational costs due to the inconsistent availability of electricity”.

“The impact of power outages also affects the availability of water, seeing some areas without both at times. The DA is concerned that this has carried on for too long and the people who suffer the most during these hard times are taxpaying citizens who deserve efficient service delivery”.

(edited by ZK)

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