BCM sparks with R25m for electrification

BUFFALO City Metro council has set aside R25million to electrify more than 1 700 homes.

BCM Mayor Xola Pakati launched the project last week in Mzamomhle near Gonubie.

Phase 1 and 2 of the project is for the electrification of newly-built RDP houses. Pakati said phase 3 would cover informal settlements to curb izinyoka (illegal connections).

Council head of engineering services Ncedo Kumbaca said the metro would inject R10-million into the Mzamomhle project alone. Other areas set to benefit include 660 homes in Chicken Farm, 550 homes in Fynbos and Scenery Park and 550 for projects bordering Mdantsane.

The RDP houses, which have scooped several provincial and national awards despite some having no electricity, were at the centre of the controversy which resulted in the dismissal of former municipal manager Andile Fani.

This was after the Grahamstown High Court found that tender processes were not followed when a company was assigned to build them.

Kumbaca said the priority areas were identified two weeks ago during a meeting with Eskom and BCM councillors where a five-year plan was also crafted.

The Dispatch reported in May that the metro loses between R8-million to R10-million a year due to cable theft. The wires are used by illegal connectors to electrify homes.

Kumbaca said: “We are further accelerating the electrification to informal settlements to effectively deal with the challenge of izinyoka, which killed 44 people in BCM alone in the last financial year,” he said.

Addressing residents during the launch of the project on Thursday, Pakati said the programme had been rolled out at the Solomon Mahlangu informal settlement in Mdantsane’s NU13.

“Contractors have been appointed for the electrification of Dacawa informal settlement at NU1 in Mdantsane, Z Soga informal settlement at NU12 in Mdantsane, Fynbos and Tyutyu in Bhisho, where 950 households will benefit,” said the mayor.