Gauteng government defends R40m power project
Political Correspondent
The Gauteng government has defended its multimillion-rand power transformer replacement programme as an important service delivery initiative in SA’s economic heartland.
The R40m programme, a partnership between the ANCrun provincial government, Eskom, and Johannesburg metro’s City Power utility was launched in October 2023 and forms part of the Gauteng Energy Response Plan.
Opposition parties, however, have criticised the programme as amounting to electioneering and accused Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi of falsely taking credit for replacing the transformers.
The programme to replace and install transformers has seen Lesufi officially switching on the lights in areas such as Soweto, Thembisa, Sebokeng, Orange Farm and Kagiso where infrastructure has been hit hard by vandalism, theft and illegal connections.
The ANC has acknowledged it is in danger of losing control of Gauteng, SA’s economic powerhouse that contributes almost 40% to national GDP, in elections scheduled for later this year as it struggles to deal with unemployment and deteriorating basic services such as housing, clinics, schools, water and electricity.
The ANC lost control of the Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane metros in Gauteng to DA-led coalitions in 2021 municipal elections where its national electoral support fell below the 50% mark for the first time since 1994.
The ANC’s support in the province had been on the decline before that too; in the 2019 provincial election it received 2.1-million votes, or 50.1%, down from the 53.5% it mustered in 2014.
Last week, Lesufi, who is also ANC Gauteng chair, oversaw the switching on of 19 transformers in Bophelong township in the
Emfuleni local municipality.
Lesufi’s spokesperson Sizwe Pamla told Business Day that “a total of 522 non-functional transformers in Eskom areas of supply [are] to be replaced and 259 [have been] replaced to date. The municipal needs are at 60 transformers in municipal supply area and 39 [have been] replaced to date”.
Pamla said the provincial government works with “all its municipalities to offer this intervention. The province does not have a mandate to provide electricity, that mandate lies with municipalities and national government, so since it doesn’t have an electricity agency, City Power is its contracted partner to do the work, including the purchasing of transformers”.
“A total of R40m has been allocated to replace the 60 transformers. On the opposition, this programme is not political but essential. They [opposition parties] are making political statements that are not tempered by facts or reality,” he said.
“The main priority for the Gauteng Provincial Government is the feedback that comes from communities on the ground. The feedback from communities is overwhelmingly positive. This administration cannot abandon the five-year mandate that was given to it by voters in 2019 just to appease the feelings of opposition parties,” Pamla added.
“Lack of electricity has life or death consequences for some families in these communities. Lack of electricity is costly for communities who cannot store their food for longer periods. Some asthma patients cannot use their nebulisers, or oxygen tanks, and diabetic patients cannot put their insulin in the prescribed temperature.”
In his state of the province address in February 2023, Lesufi said his administration had released R1.2bn to resolve the province’s energy crisis.
THIS ADMINISTRATION CANNOT ABANDON THE ... MANDATE THAT WAS GIVEN TO IT JUST TO APPEASE THE FEELINGS OF OPPOSITION PARTIES Panyaza Lesufi Gauteng premier