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The DA will be tabling proposals in the Maluti-a-Phofung Council and the Free State Legislature to force the ANC-led provincial government and municipality to use all funds allocated to infrastructure to be ring-fenced for electricity, water supply, and sewage networks.

This comes after the Greater Harrismith area, including the Tshiame Special Economic Zone, has been plagued for almost a week by water and electricity outages.

On 11 December 2019 both water and electricity services collapsed. Within two days municipal officials and community members managed to restore the water supply, but after six days the greater part of Harrismith remains without electricity. This has affected cellphone and internet services, as well as the Telkom service.

On Saturday the administrator appointed a private contractor to restore power to the area. A few areas have been restored but large parts still have no electricity supply. A combination of years of criminal neglect of a very old network by the municipality, cable theft and alleged sabotage, led to the network being unable to withstand the constant interruptions by Eskom. Municipal officials, with dubious competency, did not implement the load shedding in phases, but simply threw a switch plunging the entire system into darkness by overloading the system in one fell swoop.

The contractor has been working since Saturday to try to restore and stabilise the network, but each section that gets restored leads to burn-outs and faults further down the line. SAPS are investigating the cases of cable theft and apparent sabotage which have been revealed by the contractor.

Meanwhile, some businesses have closed, including a factory that has closed permanently. Each closure leads to job losses and adds to the huge burden of unemployment and poverty in the area.

Furthermore, staff employed to maintain the electricity supply network has had to make do with two totally unroadworthy and unlicensed vehicles, no digging equipment, no safety clothing, and no parts or tools. Businesses and factories have had to buy cables, transformers and lend equipment, while highly paid managers sat in well-heated offices manipulating the budgets. See images of the vehicles here and here. 

The municipality has been hauled to court several times by the Harrismith Business Forum which did succeed in obtaining a court order prohibiting Eskom from cutting the electricity supply. However, until the National Treasury appointed the current team of Administrators, Maluti-a-Phofung was simply used as a laundromat to enrich cronies.

It is clear that the ANC-run Free State provincial government and municipalities do not care at all about the suffering of communities, or the destruction of the local economy and further unemployment and poverty.

Issued by The DA