Note to Editors: Please find attached English and Afrikaans soundbites by Cllr Estelle Dansey and Sesotho soundbite by Jafta Mokoena MPL.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Matjhabeng will table formal questions in Council to hold the municipality accountable for the week-long power outages that left parts of Odendaalsrus, particularly Block A, without electricity for up to seven days.
Residents of Odendaalsrus have once again been left in the dark, literally, as specific areas, particularly Block A, endured electricity outages lasting up to seven days. We are deeply alarmed by the municipality’s slow response, poor planning, and ongoing neglect of towns outside Welkom.
The initial outage stemmed from cable theft, yet the pulse machine needed to locate the fault was only dispatched to Odendaalsrus the following day. This delay is part of a troubling pattern where outlying towns are consistently forced to wait for critical equipment, cherry pickers, and even refuse collection. At the same time, Welkom remains the municipality’s clear priority.
After the fault was eventually detected, the municipality cited a shortage of materials, raising serious concerns about its lack of proper forecasting and contingency planning. If theft prevents the city from maintaining sufficient stock levels, the DA questions the security measures, procurement systems, and staff competencies in place to safeguard and manage vital infrastructure.
Although some cables were replaced after 3 days, residents in Block A remained without power for more than a week, until Sunday, 2 November.
This comes after a prolonged outage, during which the municipality committed to installing overhead cables.
The DA therefore demands an urgent action plan from the Matjhabeng Local Municipality outlining:
- The exact timeline for completing the promised overhead cable installation, and
- The reasons for the municipality’s continued failure to maintain an adequate stock of essential electrical materials are.
Matjhabeng residents deserve equal access to reliable service delivery, not second-class treatment because they live outside Welkom.
These prolonged outages are unacceptable and serve as yet another clear example of poor planning and misplaced priorities by this administration.