eMbalenhle councillors says the electricity issue is not given much needed attention

The nine eMbalenhle ward Councillors (also referred to as the G9) called a media briefing on Friday, 23 November to
give feedback on the service delivery issues.
The Councillors said they sometimes do not know what to tell residents in their respective wards when asked about service delivery problems, especially electricity interruptions since it is a burning issue for eMbalenhle
people.

During the media briefing, it was mentioned that after residents protested and the Mpumalanga Premier, Ms
Refilwe Mtshweni addressed them, not much has been done so far.
The premier promised eMbalenhle residents that the process of taking electricity back to Eskom will be treated
as urgent and be given priority.
She further requested that an adhoc committee should be established to deal with the issue.
Another promise made was the funding towards the sewer spillages.
The acting municipal manager, Mr Thisha Mhlanga to be removed.
The ward Councillors added that an adhoc committee was established by the GMM Council to deal with the short
and long term solution to Eskom challenges.
“What is surprising was that since the establishment of the adhoc committee, the executive mayor of Govan Mbeki
Municipality, Cllr Thandi Ngxonono did not attend the meetings,” said the Councillors who further mentioned that it
showed she did not bother to prioritize the issue.
The Councillors also mentioned that every time Eskom issue a statement of intention to interrupt the electricity, GMM do not inform them and in turn makes it difficult for them to inform residents in their wards.
Seskhona Newspaper Editor, Ms Levhuwani Matumba tried to get a comment from the Executive Mayor, Cllr Thandi
Ngxonono as to why she failed to attend the alleged meetings, but the phones just rang unanswered.
She then contacted the speaker of the council, Mr Nhlakanipho Zuma who responded that he is still waiting for the report from the adhoc committee.
Mr Zuma was also asked about the rumours of cancelling all the remaining council meeting for the year 2018.
He said the last scheduled council meeting was in October and it did take place.
According to him the next scheduled council meeting will take place in January 2019.
On Thursday, 29 November there will be a special council meeting requested by the Executive Mayor of Govan
Mbeki Municipality, Cllr Thandi Ngxonono.
He however did not rule out that the Eskom and Rand Water will also form part of the issues to be discussed.