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Electrification of Informal Settlements Crucial to Saving Lives

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Dear Editor

This weekend reports surfaced that two people have been electrocuted in Booysen Park in Nelson Mandela Bay in the last week as a result of illegal connections. The DA is saddened by this loss of life which ultimately could have been prevented by the municipality.

This news follows days after the NMB Council approved budget cuts of R13,2 million to the Electricity and Energy Directorate. These budget cuts were imposed on the city by National Treasury due to the underspending of key conditional grant funding. The electrification of informal settlements was one of the programs that were affected by these cuts.

Over the last number of years, whenever the ANC/EFF/NA/PA coalition governs NMB, their inability to govern has seen the city forfeit hundreds of millions of Rands each financial year. In the current financial year (2023/24) the city has already lost R430 million in conditional grant funding. In the financial year 2021/2022 it amounted to more than R243 million. When such funding is taken away from the city it is ordinarily redirected by National Treasury to municipalities that have the ability to spend money on service delivery within their communities.

Each and every informal settlement in NMB must be electrified to ensure connectivity to the grid, enabling the municipality to better manage electricity losses and risks due to illegal connections. When residents connect to the grid illegally, the ratepayers are footing the bill for the stolen electricity. When formal electricity connections are installed the cost of the electricity consumed by the residents is carried by national government through the payment of the equitable share. NMB’s inability to electrify our informal settlements is not only endangering lives, it’s also wasting ratepayer funds.

The DA will demand an operational plan from the Electricity and Energy Directorate that seeks to electrify all informal settlements in the metro over a period of two financial years. We are in your corner, fighting for you. Together we can rescue South Africa from this incompetent and corrupt ANC government.

Regards

Cllr Retief Odendaal
DA NMB Caucus Leader

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