EFC challenges ELM with ultimatum
Emfuleni for Change (EFC) has issued a harsh ultimatum to the ELM Administrator to resolve a crippling eleectricity supply crisis which has paralysed a large part of Vanderbijlpark’s industrial areas for weeks.
EFC will now hold ELM officials legally responsible for work performance and will target incompetence and maladministration by taking action directly against officials high and low, as said by the business activist organisation last week.
The ultimatum also demands that ELM hand over the maintenance of its electricity infrastructure to Eskom and share revenue with it – effectively giving Eskom control of the municipal network.
Another central EFC demand is that ELM pay back predatory and illegal power hikes last year to the paying community – business and residents – after the Golden Triangle Chamber of Commerce (GTCoC) won a court order setting aside the increases.
Also, the EFC demands the ring-fencing of electricity revenue – into a special bank account – presently not used for maintaining and managing power supply effectively, leading to repeat crises such as that raging now in large parts of Vanderbijlpark.
And the EFC now also wants a say in how ELM determines all power increases.
EFC CEO Gerhard Janse van Rensburg has thrown down the gauntlet to ELM Administrator Willy Bhila to resolve the latest power supply crisis – caused by negligent lack of maintenance at a key sub-station in NE3 – now again costing business millions in lost production and income.
Key national brand businesses hit by the ELM failure to restore power include Collect-a-Can, Cape Gate and Nampak, as well as having a devastating impact on residents in the coldest winter in decades and on a host of other companies and informal businesses.
Janse van Rensburg said Bhila had until Friday this week to respond satisfactorily to the EFC ultimatum failing which a series of actions by the business activist organisation and its partners would be triggered.
The EFC was established to lead a broad coalition of business, community and civil society entities to rehabilitate and re-purpose strategic municipal infrastructure and also give restitution to the paying community on its rights violated by ELM mismanagement, corruption and false billing.
In both his letter to ELM and public broadcast on 90.6 last week, Janse van Rensburg highlighted the apocalyptic state of ELM power infrastructure but also of other strategic municipal assets such as roads and water/sanitation. Now Janse van Rensburg and the EFC letter demand an undertaking by this Friday from ELM to implement amongst others the following:
- Credit all affected consumer accounts on last year’s illegal increases.
- Engage stakeholders within 10 days on ring-fencing electricity payments to ELM and sharing of revenue between ELM and Eskom.
- Maintenance of the ELM electricity network by Eskom, effectively leading to its management by Eskom.