Mayor reveals plan to keep Joburg’s lights on
CITY of Joburg mayor Mpho Phalatse says the metro has set aside more than R1.2billion for strategic power supply to cushion Johannesburg from prolonged load shedding outages.
Phalatse was speaking at the Walter Sisulu Sports Complex in Randburg, where she engaged entity managers and employees.
She said prolonged blackouts contributed to crime and vandalism of infrastructure, and placed a strain on economic development and the functioning of the city.
“I know that this region and many parts of the city suffer extended hours without power due to factors such as aged infrastructure, the effects of rolling blackouts that place strain on our infrastructure and stretch human resources, and illegal electricity connections.
“This is why we have dedicated R1.2bn to City Power for infrastructure upgrades and an additional R1.6bn for the reduction of power outages; in addition to this, we have gone out to the market to source alternative energy sources directly from independent power producers so that Johannesburg does not rely on Eskom to keep the lights on,” Phalatse said.
Phalatse said as part of her service delivery objectives, she would include regional directors in mayoral committee meetings where decisions would be taken concerning service delivery in different communities.
She said already there had been tremendous progress in regions across the city in terms of service delivery but admitted more needed to be done to ensure that future generations have a functional city where they can live and work.