Cape Town is on track to complete its Triangle Farm electricity switching station upgrade by 2025, which will drastically improve the stability and supply of power in the city.

The metro has budgeted R318 million for the project, which includes the construction of a new switching station building, infrastructure network strengthening and new equipment.

“Cape Town is one of the fastest growing cities in South Africa and this particular upgrade is essential to future-prep our city by increasing the capacity of the switching station’s infrastructure,” the city said in a statement.

“Once completed, this will not only have immediate benefits for several existing households, but will also attract and support major industries such as large data centres and independent power producers to set up shop in Cape Town.”

Mayoral committee for energy member Alderman Limberg visited the area on Sunday to inspect the upgraded switch stations that will supply the electricity.

‘The City is committed to ensuring a reliable and safe electricity supply to all communities, and to achieve this goal, we are investing significantly into our critical infrastructure with more than R4 billion planned spend over the next three years,” Limberg said.

Cape Town’s energy directorate has spent R1.1 billion or 94% of its infrastructure budge for this financial year.

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Joburg Mayor Dada Morero has withdrawn his controversial proposal to recruit foreign nationals into the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) after facing a barrage of criticism.

Morero’s leaked video where he suggested that properly documented foreign nationals be recruited as JMPD officers during the ANC’s regional executive council (REC) lekgotla at the Birchwood Hotel in Ekurhuleni on Sunday, went viral on social media and attracted a lot of criticism.

The proposal, which aimed at removing linguistic barriers in law enforcement, has also aroused extensive debate and criticism among political parties, civic organisations, and the general public.

Gauteng Premier and ANC Provincial Chairperson Panyaza Lesufi was also drawn into the fray and said on his X account. “We held discussions with our Regional Chairperson and Executive Mayor @CdeDada who advised us that the ANC Johannesburg Lekgotla rejected his proposal and he fully accepts the decision not to entertain this proposal further.

“We remain committed to ensure that our law enforcement agencies are appropriately trained to tackle challenges created by crime”.

ANC’s coalition partner in the Gauteng Government ActionSA also rejected Morero’s suggestion, saying that the party would oppose it if it were presented to council.

Newly-appointed speaker and ActionSA’s regional caucus leader, Nobuhle Mthembu, said the party considers the plan not only ill-conceived but also an insult to South African residents, particularly those who have been overlooked in the police reservist ranks and are willing to serve their nation.

“It is without question that this proposal is an insult to the thousands of South Africans who still aspire to wear the uniform, particularly the thousands of neglected police reservists who are ready to step up,” Mthembu said.

Party leader Herman Mashaba said ActionSA will never support this.

“The requirements to serve in the JMPD stipulate you must be a South African citizen. Secondly, we have thousands of qualified reservists ready to serve. We cannot outsource law enforcement to foreign nationals.”

The EFF Gauteng also released a statement opposing Morero’s proposal.

The provincial chairperson, Nkululeko Dunga, described Morero’s statement as not only misfortuned but also a demonstration of a lack of political and governance insight, particularly coming from an executive mayor, he said

Dunga said the state has both the responsibility and resources to equip itself to serve the community adding that the government should prioritise improving the police force’s intellect, language abilities and cultural awareness.

He underlined the need for investing in officer training and providing them with the language tools they need to interact with the communities they serve more effectively.

“There is no scientific evidence to support the claim that the JMPD and SAPS are failing to address crime in areas with high numbers of foreign nationals due to language barriers. Furthermore, there is no evidence that recruiting documented foreign nationals will resolve this purported issue,” Dunga said.

Morero’s controversial statements were made at an ANC meeting, where he suggested that the police force is unable to effectively serve communities with large numbers of foreign nationals, such as Hillbrow, Berea, and Yeoville, because of language barriers.

He said the foreign officers would intensify the battle against crime in the city and end the language barrier between officers and foreign criminals.

“None of our policemen and women in uniform can speak foreign African languages, and the challenge for us is to deal with crime. You can have all your suspects in front of you.

“Before they write their statements, they can plan what they are going to say right in front of you without even understanding it. It might be a culture shock to suggest to the REC that if we are serious about fighting crime, we have no option but to recruit those that are properly documented to the JMPD,” Morero said.

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A collision involving a minibus taxi, a bakkie and a truck between Karino and Kamagugu Road in Mbombela, Mpumalanga on Monday, has left three people dead and more than 20 people injured 

The minibus was transporting learners who were travelling to various schools around Mbombela.

Spokesperson for the Department of Community Safety and Liaison, Moeti Mmusi, confirmed the number of deaths which included the driver and a passenger of the bakkie and a learner who was in the minibus.

“Twenty-seven people sustained injuries varying from slight to serious, and they were rushed to the nearby hospitals for treatment. The injured include the driver of the bus and twenty six learners,” Mmusi said.

The cause of the collision is still under investigation, with preliminary reports suggesting that driver negligence may have been a contributing factor.

The D2296 road between Karino and Mbombela has been temporarily closed because of the collision.

Mpumalanga Community Safety, Security and Liaison MEC Jackie Macie sent condolences to the families of the deceased and wished the injured a speedy recovery.

“We cannot continue losing young innocent people on our roads due to recklessness. This must come to an end” Macie said.

Macie said there was concern over the number of lives lost during crashes, following last month’s collision between a bus transporting 30 pupils from Morelig Combined School and a train at the level of crossing.

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Ekurhuleni Executive mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza has expressed his confidence that the African National Congress (ANC)-led metro was on track in ensuring financial stability and effective service delivery through its annual budget.

Xhakaza and newly-appointed Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Finance, Jongizizwe Dlabathi briefed the media on Wednesday at the OR Tambo precinct in Germiston, on developments within the metro and outlined some of the elements of the approved annual budget.

Xhakaza said the executive’s attempt at turning things around for the city has been a story of resilience, dedication and progress.

“This journey, though filled with challenges, has been marked by significant strides towards restoring delivery and rebuilding public trust in our local government,” he said.

The Mayor said one of the key initiatives was the establishment of the “Service Delivery War Room” – a multi-departmental platform designed to enhance coordination and tackle service delivery issues head-on.

Xhakaza praised the milestones achieved in terms of the contentious issue of waste collection in the metro and said that in a span of 90 days, the executive facilitated the opening up of the Rietfontein landfill site, and the delivery of 13 waste compactor trucks.

“This significant enhancement to our waste management infrastructure will greatly improve the efficiency and reliability of waste collection services across the city, leading to cleaner neighbourhoods and a healthier living environment for all residents,” he said.

Xhakaza said his government was committed to sustainable economic development and job creation, which is illustrated by the inauguration of the Vosloorus Multi-Purpose Centre and the launch of the “Fetsa Tlala Agriculture Support programme” for emerging Black farmers and cooperatives.

He praised the recent accolades received by the metro at the 2nd annual South African Local Government Association Municipal Audit Awards last week, in which the city won two awards for reducing unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure and for implementing effective consequence management.

Finance MMC Dlabathi outlined some of the infrastructure interventions as outlined in the recently approved budget.

Dlabathi said the budget was developed through extensive consultation with the multi-party caucus and rigorous planning in the finance budget steering committee.

“This budget reflects our commitment to promoting good governance and ensuring the financial sustainability of our city,” Dlabathi said, adding that  the administration is committed to maintaining financial stability while addressing the needs of residents and driving sustainable urban development.

The MMC said the total revenue for the 2024/2025 fiscal year is projected to be R60.67 billion, an increase from the revised budget of R55.56 billion for 2023/24.

In terms of expenditure, they have budgeted R60.07 billion for the fiscal year, up from R55.08 billion in the revised budget for the last year, he said.

An operating surplus of R601.9 million is being anticipated by the administration, and expected to grow throughout the next three years, ensuring sound financial footing.

Dlabathi confirmed that R475 million has been allocated for road repairs and maintenance, and R420 million for upgrading and maintaining the stormwater drainage systems.

He said the energy department has been allocated a capital budget of R5.52 billion, R2.636 billion for the roads and stormwater department, R590 million for the water and sanitation department, R353 million for the transport department, and R492.5 million for the human settlements department.

The MMC announced tariff adjustments, namely: property rates by 4.6%, sanitation by 6%, refuse removal by 5.3%, water by 6%, electricity by 11.75%.

Dlabathi said the executive understood the impact of these increases on residents and have ensured that they are kept to a minimum while still enabling the effective delivery of essential services.

He outlined the Revenue Enhancement and Cost Containment Framework (RECCF) – a strategic initiative aimed at bolstering revenue generation and enhancing frugality in the city.

The RECCF will establish monitoring structures, including the Technical War Room Committee and the Administrative Oversight Committee.

Dlabathi said the framework will be rolled out in three phases, namely: financial rescue, stabilisation and sustainability.

He called upon stakeholders to support the budget and work together to create a better Ekurhuleni for all.

“This budget is a testament to our commitment to building a responsive and agile service delivery orientated city,” Dlabathi said.

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Joburg City Power has announced, starting this week, residential prepaid customers of the metro will be charged an additional basic charge of R200 for electricity network and service charges.

This follows the recent announcement by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) of a 12.72% tariff increase similarly to commence from Monday.

City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said residents of the metro enjoyed being on the lowest tariff that did not include a basic charge for operational and maintenance costs.

“The residential prepaid customer does not adequately contribute to the fixed network operating cost, the cost attributed to repairing and maintaining the network to ensure availability on demand,” Mangena said.

Mangena said the basic charge consisted of a R70 service charge and a R130 network capacity charge before consideration of value added tax (VAT).

“The total basic charge will be recovered from the qualifying prepaid customers using the prepayment platform, this implies that when a customer purchases electricity the R200 will be recovered upfront before any consumption-related charges,” Mangena said.

He said that in cases where customers purchase monthly electricity for less than R400 at the beginning of the month, the payment will be split between covering the fixed charge and charges for consumption.

Mangena confirmed the residential prepaid high tariff would continue to be based on the inclining block tariff methodology as prescribed by NERSA, and said all amounts are exclusive of VAT.

City Power General Manager for Tariffs Frank Hinda said the monthly fee would be charged whether customers purchase electricity or not.

He said when a customer temporarily leaves the city and does not purchase electricity for an extended period, the charges will accumulate on the system until the next purchase.

“The logic is very simple. When you come back after two or three months, you would want to press a button, switch on your fridge, geyser, etc and you’d expect electricity. It’s not like when you’re away, the city rolls up the network and puts it somewhere else. It remains available to you and that is the availability we need to provide for in the form of a fixed charge,” Hinda said.

He said in cases where the customer failed to purchase enough electricity to cover the monthly fee, the outstanding amount would be carried over to the next month.

Hinda said that only indigent prepaid customers, who are earning less than R6000 a month, and registered on the system, would be considered for a lower customer tariff and not subject to the R200 charge.

In addition, he said the monthly charge would only apply to prepaid and not postpaid customers, who are billed at the end of each month.

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Cape Town’s Department of Water and Sanitation has confirmed the recent proactive maintenance along the Cape Flats network is nearing completion.

Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Sanitation Zahid Badroodien said on Wednesday that the city’s planned three day maintenance which started from Monday until midnight on Wednesday, had left many without water.

“We are in the final stretches of our 72-hour proactive maintenance along the Cape Flats network and our teams made excellent progress. Four out of six valves have been replaced,” he said.

Badroodien said 22 areas were affected, including Diep River, Lavender Hill and Pelican Park; but was necessary to ensure the sustainable condition of the pipe infrastructure going forward.

“This shutdown is necessary so that crucial maintenance work can be done safely on an important section of our water supply network which includes replacing faulty valves,” he said.

The MMC said the department regretted the inconvenience caused, but delaying the work had the potential for an even greater risk to the water supply.

Badroodien said the shut-down had proceeded smoothly, with five teams at five different locations removing and fixing critical valves, and that there was order at tanker locations and the queues were short.

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THE Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), have praised the approval of the budget for the city of Ekurhuleni, but says it has been stolen by the African National Congress (ANC), after the part had repeatedly rejected it.

In a statement on Friday, EFF chair Leshaka Manamela said while the party welcomed the budget presented in an extraordinary council meeting, its handling was an effort by the ANC to claim political glory solely and disingenuously for the tabling of the budget.

Manamela said it was no coincidence that the budget was tabled merely two days after the removal of the EFF’s member of the mayoral committee (MMC) for finance, Nkululeko Dunga.

“Our people must see Doctor Xhakaza and his ANC cronies and allies for what he is, a scavenger waiting to claim victories he has not worked for,” Manamela said.

He said the budget that has been approved by the council is the same budget that was tabled three weeks ago and was rejected, and was formulated by Dunga following a public participation process.

Furthermore, the chair accused Xhakaza of withdrawing an item relating to the distribution of electricity in the metro, calling for the city to substitute Eskom and carry out the provision to communities directly to ensure stable and reliable electricity.

This comes on the heels of the mayor’s announcement of Dunga’s removal in order to “effectively fast-track the completion and approval of the annual budget” and his replacement with the current chair of both the Governance and Economic Mayoral Cluster and the Budget Steering Committee and MMC for City Planning and Economic Development, Nomadlozi Nkosi as acting Finance MMC.

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The unnamed Lenasia businessman was taken into custody during a City Power cut-off operation and is facing charges of theft and tampering with electricity infrastructure after he was found with a substation that had disappeared from the system 10 years ago.

The substation was illegally connected to the network via a kilometre-long electricity cable also suspected to have been stolen from the power utility.

The substation was repossessed and transported b to City Power headquarters.

City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said the 11KV mini substation disappeared from City Power’s premises in Booysens in 2014.

“The utility’s records show that at the time, four mini substations were procured. However, one disappeared without a trace.

“The local energy supplier team found the missing mini substation at the businessman’s premises after a request by a new business nearby to be connected to the grid through the same equipment.

“The cost of a similar mini-substation is estimated at R400,000 while the 1km-long cable also found in his premises is estimated to cost R900,000. The electricity infrastructure is not registered on the City Power’s system although the connection was made on its network,” Mangena explained.

At the same time, Mangena said the Lenasia Service Delivery Centre is owed R1.4 billion by businesses in the area.

During the operation, a local car dealership was disconnected due to debts of R2.7 million.

“A block of flats in Ennerdale with a R1.5 million debt, and another block in Lenasia Extension 13, which was illegally connected, was disconnected.

“City Power calls on businesses in the area to approach it to arrange for service agreements,” he added.  

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Eskom is Investigating allegations of corruption after residents of Dobsonville Soweto made startling claims that went viral on social media, that some of the power utility employees were colluding with a ward councilor to damage infrastructure and then demand payment from the residents to fix it.

Eskom’s Gauteng spokesperson, Amanda Qithi said the power utility condemns threats against its employees who work in the area and are conducting disconnections according to the power utility’s processes.

“Until allegations leveled against these employees are proven true, we urge communities to treat our employees as innocent. Threatening someone’s life is a serious criminal offence which Eskom is not taking lightly,” said Qithi.

She said the procedural disconnection of the network in the affected parts of Dobsonville is due to low purchases of electricity resulting in revenue and energy losses.

“This process is implemented across Gauteng to prevent equipment failure and revenue loss in areas where there is a risk of electricity infrastructure exploding or failing as a result of illegal activities such as tampering, bypassing of meters and illegal connections, which lead to network overloading.

“The mini substations which were switched off in Dobsonville were subsequently vandalised. To repair the vandalised electricity infrastructure, a 60% threshold of affected customers need to pay a minimum deposit of R500.00 towards the total remedial fee of R6052.00 for illegal connections, meter bypassing and tampering, as well as purchasing of electricity tokens from illegal vendors,” she added.

Qithi assured residents that Eskom does not handle cash at any of its offices, and none of its employees or contractors collects electricity payments from customers.

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A case of murder is being investigated after a man and woman were shot and killed outside the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.

According to police, the victims were headed towards the court before they were approached by the suspects, who shot them.

Police spokesperson Colonel Mavela Masondo confirmed the shooting, saying the motive was being investigated.

“Police have opened a case of murder and are searching for the suspects after a male and female were shot and killed outside the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, 08 November, at approximately 07h00

“It is reported that the victims were walking towards the Randburg Magistrate’s Court when they were approached by the suspects who shot at them,” Masondo said.

Masondo added that the victims were certified dead at the scene.

“It is reported that the suspects were driving in a black Mercedes Benz. The motive for the killing cannot be confirmed at this stage. A case of murder is being investigated.”

Police are appealing to anyone who might have information that can help in the investigation or assist in the apprehension of the suspects to please call the nearest police station or call crime stop on 08600 10111.

Meanwhile, police have arrested five suspects after foiling a planned cash-in-transit (CIT) heist, in a shootout on Tuesday that has left a security guard dead.

Police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said officers caught the suspects after a tipoff on the planned heist.

Mathe said law enforcement intercepted some members in Vrede, Free State, and caught others in Memel, about 52 km away travelling in separate vehicles to KwaZulu-Natal.

“Police were following up on intelligence of a planned CIT when a shootout ensued between police and suspects. Unfortunately, a 40-year-old security officer was shot and killed when the suspects, who were travelling in a Dodge sedan, opened fire.”

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