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The Select Committee on Petitions and Executive Undertakings has called upon the Gauteng Provincial Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) to prioritise the electricity challenges facing residents of Emfuleni Local Municipality and find lasting solutions to the problems.  
 
The committee was considering a petition submitted by Mr Dennis Ryder, a Gauteng permanent delegate to the National Council of Province (NCOP) on behalf of the residents of Emfuleni, who were calling for the NCOP to investigate electricity supply problems in the municipality. The committee further expressed its frustrations at the lack of urgency from stakeholders such as ESKOM, COGTA and the Emfuleni Local Municipality in trying to find solutions to electricity problems for the people of Emfuleni.
 
Meanwhile, COGTA told the committee that Emfuleni municipality’s debt to ESKOM is the highest in the province. The committee noted that COGTA’s explanation of Emfuleni’s electricity problems did not show the role it played in addressing the challenges before they reached current crisis levels. The committee further noted that there are huge problems related to ailing infrastructure compounded by illegal connections. The committee further expressed concerns that the municipality is losing R1.3 billion annually as a result of water and electricity losses.
 
Eskom representatives told the committee that they are in the process of replacing faulty and damaged transformers. However, the committee heard that in some cases transformers fail repeatedly because electricity meters boxes are continuously bypassed and illegal electricity connections persist.
 
The committee recommended that Eskom work together with councilors to ensure that residents pay for their electricity into the right accounts and update them on progress replacing faulty transformers.  

Issued by the Parliamentary Communication Services on behalf of the Chairperson of the Select Committee on Petitions and Executive undertakings, Audrey Maleka