TOTT 17 October 2019

6 Advertising & Newsdesk: (046) 624-4356 Find us on Facebook 17 October 2019 TALK OF THE TOW N
EDITORIAL
OPINION
Eskom’s
ongoing
curse
DINNER TIME
Load-shedding again, and this week it
took everyone by surprise. Apparently
a broken conveyor belt at the Medupi
power station was to blame. Just enough
time for Eskom to rush out a load shedding
schedule minutes before the power went
out.
South Africans are tired of Eskom’s
excuses, tired of the lack of maintenance of
critical infrastructure, tired of the continual
bailouts of the state-owned enterprise and
tired of being hit with huge increases in the
cost of electricity every year.
Despite Eskom saying the bailouts and
increases are needed to stave off load
shedding, it happens anyway. So we have
the double whammy of paying much more
for an unreliable service.
The schedule on Eskom website shows
stage 2 load shedding (two and a half hours
at a time during staggered times of the day)
for every day until November. Is Eskom
telling us this broken conveyor belt will
take that long to fix, or is this an indication
of a far bigger problem?
This will come at yet more cost to the
business sector in South Africa, with the
accompanying loss in production and
wasted working hours when electricity is
required to power equipment.
Who is going to make up for this loss in
business? Certainly not the government. If
employers are not able to work around
these sustained power cuts, the long-term
effect of such wasted working hours is
making cuts to the hours that employees
work, and even laying off staff. Load
shedding is a vicious circle that hurts the
economy and impoverishes people.
It’s mind-boggling that in the face of this
power crisis, that has been ongoing for
years, South Africa is still exporting power
to other countries, including Zimbabwe,
Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Botswana,
Mozambique and Zambia.
One can understand retaining mercy to
small nations with few resources like
Swaziland and Lesotho, but we should have
pulled the plug on other regional
neighbours years ago. South Africa must
see to the needs of its citizens first, before
trying to be daddy to its neighbours.
A few years ago, it was infuriating to find
out that Eskom was supplying an enormous
amount of power – at less than the
residential consumer rate – to two huge
aluminium smelters, one in Richard’s Bay,
and the other in Mozambique.
Ordinary consumers are being
penalised by Eskom’s (and the
g ove r n m e n t ’s) decisions. The year-on-year
increases in the cost of electricity have been
compounded to the point of being
unaffordable to many consumers, aside
from those who already receive free power
from the government, or who simply don’t
pay their bills.
- Jon Houzet
This is an open forum for readers to
express their opinions.
However, the publishers reserve the right to
shorten letters. Those printed are not
necessarily the views of Talk of the Town.
Although noms de plume may be used,
letters must be signed and have an
authentic contactable address & te l e p h o n e
n u m b e r.
Talk of the Town reserves the right
to not publish letters.
Please limit letters to 250 words or less.
BEE MEET SPIDER: The Kowie Camera Club’s winning photo for September was ‘Dinner Time’
by Lynton Perry, who scored a certificate of merit. The camera club can be contacted by e-mail at
kowiecc@gmail.com
HAVE YOUR SAY Letters to PO Box 2871, Port Alfred — or e-mail to h o u ze t j @ t i s o b l a c kst a r.c o. za
Impressed with service
Upon opening my most
recent municipal account, I
found that I had been
charged R3,028, almost
twice the normal amount.
Electricity consumption
alone accounted for
R1,441, ie 830 units.
For a household
consisting of two
doddering oldsters who
follow a staid lifestyle, this
is more than a little
e x c e s s ive .
Fraud accusation malicious
On October 2 my wife and I
arrived on the SPCA parking
lot (Station Hill) at about
11.45pm to view what was
in their shop.
Having just parked, a
man approached us.
He inquired if my wife
had bought a Chinese bowl
set. We both denied this as
we always accompany each
o t h e r.
When I asked him why
the question then the
accusation of fraud against
I know that Eskom has
got itself in to financial
straits, but as I do not feel it
is my responsibility to dig
them out of the hole they
had dug for themselves, I
proceeded to the municipal
offices, where I was
attended to promptly by a
friendly Ms S Mabengeza.
She took down details
of my query and said that
she would phone me once
the enquiry had been
her was made.
He accused her of
swapping the price tag for a
lower value price tag at the
SPCA area at Home
Industries in town.
He based his accusations
on a report from Home
Industries.
I then approached the
SPCA manager who clearly
stated the SPCA shops have
nothing to do with him
whatsoever, he is in charge
of the animals.
completed.
I must admit that,
despite being impressed by
the manner in which Ms
Mabengeza had attended
to me, I thought that the
matter would land in the
proverbial file 13 and that I
would have to send
repeated reminders, and
would be told that, despite
living in the Eastern Cape, I
would have to obey the
Law of the Transvaal, to wit,
I then went to Home
Industries to trace the other
a c c u s e r.
I spoke to the secretary
who refused to divulge the
name of this slanderous
person. I then referred to the
SPCA to get his address.
Mr SPCA manager arrives
stating he was a witness and
he will support him.
These are malicious,
fraudulent fabrications.
HENDRIK BARNARD
Em e rge n cy N u m b e rs
TideGuide courtesy of the South African Navy
Da t e High Lo w Da t e High Lo w
Port Alfred hospital........... (046) 604-4000
Police station..................... (046) 604-2001/2
July 17 1740 0527 2356 1134
July 21 2055 0822 0159 1442
Multi-Security ................... (046) 624-2508
18 1810 0557 ---- 1204
22 2327 1038 0344 1718
Chubb Security ................. (046) 624-4810
19 1844 0630 0027 1238
23 ---- 1231 0558 1858 Sky Alarms ........................ (046) 624-2806
20 1930 0713 0105 1323
24 0058 1331 0712 1953 NSRI ................................... 082 - 990 - 5971
WALKING SHY: Karli Owsley was shyly
walking the runway for the beauty competition
at the Westside Community Fair on Saturday
Picture: NTOMBI MSUTU
“K-k of betaal”
Imagine my surprise
when a mere three hours
later Ms Mabengeza
phoned to say the matter
had been investigated, an
error detected and rectified
and the amount now owing
on the account was about
R1,800.
That this matter was
resolved with such
promptitude has left me
quite gobsmacked.
The municipality is
more often than not the
recipient of brickbats,
many of which I myself
have hurled.
It pleases me to give
credit where credit is due
and to present them with a
bouquet and to thank Ms
Mabengeza for the efficient
manner in which she dealt
with this matter.
DERRICK FELLOWS
More tales of woe
from department
In response to the Pregnant
Pause letter dated September
26, “Don’t hold your breath.
I applied for my driving
license in November 2018.
My first anniversary is
coming up. Our stories are
much alike.
It’s also an expensive
exercise, what with the cost
of the non-existent card, eye
test, photos and two
temporary driver’s licences
at R100 each, never mind
the many trips into town to
the licensing department.
All this to drive legally.
When you are old, it gets
tiring to stand in queues just
to meet with a blank wall of
incomprehension at the end.
This department should
be ashamed to provide such
an awful service.
MARGARET CAMPBELL,
Bathurst
Electricity .......................... (046) 624-1111 (a / h )
Gardmed ............................ 0 8 2 -759 - 2 13 4
EMS (Emergency
Medical Services) ........... 10 17 7
Holistic EMS ...................... 063-460-0042
Fire Department................ (046) 624-1111