The Rep 05 August 2022

4 Tel: (045) 839-4040 / editorial: mjekulal@therep.co.za / advertising: charodinev@therep.co.za 5 August 2022 THE R E P R ES E N TAT I V E
Plan to electrify informal
settlements due to start
Upgrade of Mlungisi substation first priority to end power woes
Enoch Mgijima Local
Municipality plans to start
the electrification of
informal settlements in the
region but they will start with
the upgrading of Mlungisi
substation. The intervention is
aimed at curbing electricity
woes in the municipal area.
The municipal electricity
bill is currently at around
R800m and by resolving the
lack of power in informal
settlements which has been
driving illegal connections, the
bill is expected to decrease.
According to council
speaker Noluthando Nqabisa,
the overloaded Mlungisi
substation needed to be
addressed urgently as it was a
fire hazard. To take the load off
Mlungisi substations the VAN
areas would be moved to other
mini-substations.
Nqabisa said the
intervention followed lengthy
talks about protecting and
SOUP FOR SPCA
SUCCESSFUL FUNDRAISER: L a u re n
du Preez, Marguerite Moorcroft and
Zani Havenga sell soup outside the
SPCA shop in The Mall on Saturday. The
SPCA committee are grateful to all the
willing soup-makers for their help, and
for the support from shoppers. ‘Thank
you Queenstonians for your kindness
and generosity towards the needs of
our animals at the SPCA. Next time,
look out for homemade breads too,’
Moorcroft said Picture: SUPPLIED
Isanco court battle on cards over
replacing of EMLM PR councillors
ZINTLE BOBELO
An ongoing power battle continues to fuel
tensions among Independent South African
National Civic Organisation (Isanco)
members, with calls to sanction the
replacement of two Enoch Mgijima Local
Municipality proportional representative
councillors.
A letter shown to The Rep, allegedly
signed by an Independent Electoral
Commission (IEC) official, directed to the
EMLM manager, states that Mncedisi
Mbengo and Mthuthuzeli Qamngana are
set to replace sitting PR councillors Anam
Njikela and Mzwanele Mxakwe.
The letter states that Mbengo and
Qamngana were top of the party list and
had been declared elected to EMLM. This
follows a long organisational dispute.
“As prescribed in item 18 of Schedule 1
of the Municipal Structures Act, 1998 [Act
No 117 of 1998] these councillors replace
the following outgoing councillors who
ceased to hold office in the municipality:
Anam Njikela and Mzwanele Mxakwe,”
the letter read.
However, speaking to The Rep, Njikela
and Mxakwe said they had not received
any formal communication regarding their
replacement and that the matter was still in
court, adding they remained PR
councillors.
A correspondence, also seen by The
Rep, stated Isanco’s national management
securing the substations and
mini-substations of EMLM.
The prime objective was to
move away from a reactional
approach of “jumping when
there is fire”. As a result, they
had engaged the national
cabinet representative (NCR)
with the aim that refurbishment
at the substation be prioritised,
as it was a matter of weeks
before it exploded.
“We requested this so it can
accommodate the demands of
Mlungisi, and all the steps
followed in the Western
substation implemented. We
buy transformers frequently
like we are buying paper,
because they burn on a regular
basis as they are overloaded by
illegal connections.”
She said the municipality
could not afford to have people
stealing electricity as this
affected EMLM’s maintenance
budget and encouraged
lawlessness in society.
Municipal manager
Nokuthula Zondani said they
had held a meeting with Eskom
concerning the bill and the
power utility had been lenient
given that EMLM was cashs
t ra p p e d .
Zondani said part of the
reason the municipality’s debt
was skyrocketing was due to
the debt bill not being serviced
on a monthly basis and
incurring high interest rates.
“We were asked to commit
to paying at least R5m per
m o n t h .”
However, the DA’s Lindie
Haggard said a council
resolution had been taken for
the bill to be serviced monthly.
But Zondani it was difficult
to pay the bill when she had to
consider paying wages of
the employee at the same time.
Suggestions were made that
the municipality get the NCR
involved to hold talks with the
Development Bank of South
committee, deemed the highest decisionmaking
body, did not give a mandate to
anyone to unseat the councillors, and a
resolution that no councillor be removed
from any municipal council was still valid.
It was also highlighted that
correspondence was continuously
submitted by an illegal structure which had
sanctioned the councillors’ r e m ova l .
The Rep previously reported (Power
struggle rocks Isanco, November 26 2021)
that Njikela and Mxakwe were slapped
with letters of suspension after the party
sought to replace them just days after they
were sworn in as PR councillors late last
year. The councillors later took legal action
against the party.
Isanco spokesperson Axolile Masiza
said the region was addressing the matter.
“Our councillors will, very soon, join
the EMLM council and we must say our
national office has been a helping hand.
“It has been a struggle from both the
municipality and IEC at provincial level,
but we managed to get to this point
through the national Isanco secretaryg
e n e ra l ’s office.”
Masiza said both Mbengo and
Qamngana were suitable candidates, and
had been from the onset.
“The organisation continues to follow
due processes of deploying members
within our organisation. So far we
acknowledge receipt of the letter and h ave
been busy looking at dates for the swearing
Africa (DBSA).
The DA’s Zuko Mandile,
with other councillors,
recommended that the correct
supply chain procurement
procedures be followed instead
of the contractor operating at
the Western substation passing
through automatically.
AT M ’s Siphelo Ndarala
wanted to know what the plan
was for the Gauteng informal
settlement which, according to
his knowledge, was among
those to be moved to the New
Rathwick RDP housing project.
Technical services portfolio
head Mhlangabezi
Mangcotywa said all informal
settlements in EMLM would be
electrified, but not in one go.
Giving an update on the
Western substation, he said it
was set to be commissioned
before switching on could take
place. “The chaos causing us to
implement load-shedding will
come to an end.”
i n .” Regional chair Thembile Marmani said
the court application was filed after the
outgoing members resisted being replaced.
Marmani said a performance
evaluation process after election r e ve a l e d
that Njikela and Mxakwe had
underperformed in terms of numbers.
“Secondly, the list we had submitted
was a compliance list, not a final one, and
they were claiming they were number one
and two on the list.
“We have incurred costs in the process.
They will have to bear the costs. We are
just waiting on a court order.
“We must also take into consideration
that the municipality [municipal manager]
also played a role in defence of people
representing a political party.
“As an organisation we would like
council to hold the MM accountable
because this involves ratepayers’ money
which was paid to individuals who were
expelled from the organisation and they
were aware of that but still continued.”
EMLM spokesperson Lonwabo Kowa
confirmed the municipality had received
the letter relating to the replacement of the
councillors and that further
announcements would be made soon.
The IEC’s Julie Stanworth said the letter
was sent by the IEC national office to
EMLM.
“We can confirm the originality of the
letter and the contents thereof,” said
S t a n wo r t h .
Residents want
mine operator
off their land
ABONGILE SOLUNDWANA
Q U A R RY
CONCERN:
We b b e r
We z e l t s
Repossessed
Asset
Recovery, a
rock quarry
c o n t r a c t o r,
is alleged
by
re s i d e n t s
to be
drawing
water from
a river in
Lesseyton
without a
water
licence
P i c t u re :
SUPPLIED
Lesseyton residents want the “notorious” rock quarry mining
director of Webber Wezelts Repossessed Asset Recovery, who is
allegedly operating illegally, to vacate their land after failing to
comply with a number of requirements.
Residents who stopped operations claimed the c o m p a ny ’s
mining permit had expired on July 7.
Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality (EMLM) had intervened in the
matter by serving the company’s director, Luzuko Mbilashe, with
notice to stop operations until disputes were resolved, but
operations continued.
Instead, Mbilashe filed a court interdict against nine people for
disrupting operations, with ward councillor Ntomboxolo Solani
included.
According to residents, explosion shock waves had resulted in
some houses sustaining cracks. Also, the river from which they had
drawn water had been closed, and bridges were broken down,
without the company having consulted the community.
Mpumli Maawu, the community’s chair, alleged the houses were
damaged because an environmental assessment was never done.
“He is working illegally, his licence expired on July 7,” he said.
Maawu said they had last heard from Mbilashe on the day they
gave him permission to operate on their land on condition that their
requirements were met.
“We had required that 25% of the employment be given to
members of the community, that royalties be paid.
“Mbilashe never returned with feedback about the benefits.”
He said only two residents were employed from Lesseyton, with
the rest from outside the district.
Maawu said: “We were shocked to find that one of the two
residents was injured by one of the machines recently and that he
was fired. The people are not receiving any royalties. The bridge
clerk is from Mthatha.
“Mbilashe is running operations outside the council resolution.
“Instead, he is sending the police to beat us when we are halting
operations and a court interdict was filed against us.”
EMLM council speaker Noluthando Nqabisa and chief whip
Nombuyiselo Ndlebe were recently contacted when the
community halted mining after blocking the entrance.
Nqabisa said: “The residents reported the matter to us and we
conducted a visit to assess what they were complaining about.
“We found people’s houses cracked, the quarry was not fenced,
the river was closed and their bridges were removed.”
The speaker said a council resolution was taken in January that
the quarry stop operating until the dispute was resolved.
“We served the resolution, but the company continued to mine.
“Residents kept calling us when they were protesting.”
She said EMLM had arranged a meeting between Mbilashe and
the residents to determine whether he was operating illegally.
”His mining permit expired on July 7. The community members
expressed their unhappiness to him but he did not respond.
“We reached an agreement with the community that since his
permit had expired, he should not continue operating.
“But the director said he renewed the licence weeks ago. We
asked him which process he had followed without the community’s
involvement. We again heard that he was continuing and had even
filed a court interdict against community members.”
However, the speaker said the department of mineral resources
official knew nothing about the permit being renewed.
“This means he was operating without a valid permit,” she said.
“Today we were contacted by Pops because the community
members had closed down the mining entrance. The police said
they were instructed to beat and arrest the people.
“We advised them not to because the people had approached
the municipality for assistance. If they wanted to arrest people they
must arrest us. We requested the permit saying Mbilashe can mine.”
The Rep contacted Mbilashe, who said: “All of these are
rumours, none of what they are saying is true.”
He said the licence was renewed, but when asked for further
explanation he abruptly said he would give The Rep a call, and
terminated the conversation.
At the time of going to print, DMR had not responded to queries.