By Akani Nkuna
The Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Thursday it would file a formal complaint with the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) against the City of Tshwane, alleging the metro is breaching licence conditions.
“We are preparing a formal complaint to NERSA in terms of Section 32 of the Energy Regulation Act. We believe that Tshwane is in breach of its NERSA licence conditions to provide a reliable supply of electricity. The complaint will be backed by the documented experiences of our councillors as well as the residents,” said DA Tshwane mayoral candidate, Cilliers Brink, at a press briefing.
The move follows prolonged outages in East Lynne after a 26 December fire damaged the Koedoespoort substation.
Brink said the disruption was the longest in recent memory. Other areas had also been affected since November, he said.
Tshwane Mayor Nasiphi Moya has apologised for the “frustration and hardship” experienced because of the outages, and said the city’s Energy and Electricity Business Unit would present a plan to stabilise vulnerable substations and improve security and asset protection.
Tshwane’s utilities MMC Frans Boshielo has attributed repeated trips in East Lynne and surrounding areas to an ageing 15km distribution cable that weakened after the substation fire, saying teams must locate faults before repairs can be made, which contributes to delays.
Brink said the crisis was partly “budget-driven”, saying the DA wanted an independent assessment of the network to inform spending decisions, and announced a city-wide online petition.
He cited the February 2025 adjustment budget as an example of what he said was increased spending on water tankers and security companies, while basic infrastructure was neglected.
He also said he had seen indications the metro was considering 5% to 10% expenditure cuts, and linked the pressure to a wage backpay liability after a bargaining council ruling on a 3.5% salary increase backdated to 2021, citing a city proposal of a R777 million settlement.
“The nation’s capital is in deep financial trouble, but there are also steps that can be taken to prevent water and electricity from being defunded further,” Brink said.
Under the Electricity Regulation Act, NERSA may investigate complaints, including alleged failures by licensees to abide by licensing conditions, with Section 32 setting out the regulator’s investigative process.
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