RUSTENBURG HERALD - RUSTENBURG - “Industries sub-station is on the brink of collapse.” “In 2016 new switch gear was bought but not installed.” “In 2024, a new sub-station building at Koorsboom was erected, but it is standing unused.” “The previous Mayor was warned about the state of affairs.”
These were some of the comments made by Councillor Gert du Plessis during a Ward meeting on Wednesday, 29 January in the Old Town Hall. Out of sheer desperation, residents of Ward 15, 16 and 17 requested a meeting with Rustenburg Local Municipality (RLM) and the Mayor after continuous, lengthy electricity outages - the tip of the iceberg of the service delivery disaster in Rustenburg.
Cllr du Plessis started the meeting by giving a summary of the status of the electricity grid in Rustenburg - painting a bleak picture indeed. He mentioned that Industries sub-station is in trouble and needs “serious intervention.” On top of this, ringfeeds are not being maintained, but apparently RLM plans to address this shortcoming from Waterkloof sub-station that “should minimise long power outages.” Moreover, Motor City sub-station, that was built to support Industries, has repeatedly been vandalised.
A total of 56 residents attended the meeting, as well as three Ward Councillors, workers of RLM and Members of the Mayoral Committee (MMCs). The Mayor, Sheila Mabale-Huma, whose presence was specifically requested by residents, did not make an appearance, having “other council commitments” to attend to. This caused even more frustration and anger from residents as the meeting had been postponed on a previous occasion due to unavailability of the Mayor. As such, MMCs Kombe and Putu had been granted full authority to lead the meeting, to make decisions and address complaints.
More than once, there was made mention of “the elephant in the room” - continuous cases of vandalism to the town’s electrical infrastructure.
The MMCs confirmed the presence of armed security at the main sub-stations but according to them, the “criminals are getting more reckless”. They also confirmed that Koorsboom sub-station’s infrastructure is old and a safety hazard.
However, in the only bit of good news for the evening: “The newly commissioned building will be completed by the end of April 2025” to alleviate the ringfeed burden placed on Industries sub-station.
The frustration over lack of visibility in streets and soaring house break-ins due to streetlights not working, was also discussed and once again, the blame was placed on vandalism. The residents were asked to report loitering in the streets to police and Public Safety. However, residents confronted the panel with the fact that police members need to be more visible and active in communities.
Councillor of Ward 15, Ilse Edwards, confirmed that she had addressed the matter of grass cutting with Director of Community Development, Linda Jele, after continuous rain during the festive season has left the town’s sidewalks, parks and open fields completely overgrown. “He and his assistants agreed to address overgrown areas within two weeks.”
This sparked comment from a resident who asked a burning question: “Why appoint so many directors? Rather get more staff to do the work.” His question was left unanswered.
Another matter of urgency on many a mind, was raised when one resident spoke about how Rustenburg is declining under the “burden” of service delivery - but more houses and malls are being built. “How are they maintaining the supply, because no new subs or reservoirs are being built?” Again, no definitive response was given, other than the plan of ringfeeding.
There were several individual remarks made on service delivery and the fact that complaints are not addressed in a timeous fashion or more importantly, that proper communication does not filter down from RLM to community members. The response by RLM? “We cannot give timelines on the issue of communication.”
Moreover, in more disappointing feedback, the MMCs also would not commit to timelines of building any new infrastructure support, as it is “subject to financing” and “budget allocation”.
Unit Manager of the Electrical department, Witness Ndzukula, explained that it is not always possible to give timeframes, especially when fault finding is taking place, because it’s done per line, per foot, and the systematic fault finding takes long. Still to be proven, the panel promised that communication would be improved and done more frequently - even if feedback is not positive.
If any of the promises made will be fulfilled, remains to be seen. In the words of one resident, RLM is attempting to “put a band aid on cancer”.
