GAUTENG COGTA

ADDRESSING THE ENERGY EMERGENCY CRISIS IN THE MOST POPULOUS PROVINCE BY UPGRADING PRESSURED AGEING INFRASTRUCTURE WHILST ADDRESSING THE EVER-CHANGING LANDSCAPE OF COALITION GOVERNMENTS

Municipal Focus talked to MEC for CoGTA in Gauteng, Mr Mzikayifane Elias Khumalo about what this means and entails when facing a national Energy Emergency Crisis in a province with 15 million people, a quarter of South Africa’s population of 62 million.

“The core of the work of the municipality is service delivery, and service delivery means the basic needs of citizens; electricity, water, clean environment and roads,” said MEC Khumalo.

The MEC explained that the challenges that faced our national electricity supplier, Eskom, affected the ordinary citizen, thus the responsibility trickled down from national to the competency of local government.

“It may sound like rhetoric to others, but the reality is that the infrastructure in the Gauteng municipalities is old,” expounded Khumalo. “Consequently, the planned and unplanned outages due to Eskom loadshedding accelerated the decline of electrical infrastructure, such as switchgears and transformers –a number of them are failing or burning out.”

Recognising this challenge around electricity, and keeping in mind that the next physical infrastructure that will be affected in this way is water infrastructure, the Office of the Premier facilitated the formation of the Energy Emergency Council to develop a response to the crises.

A Technical Team was also established under the leadership of the Acting Director General and Heads of Departments to develop an integrated response plan based on Gauteng's Energy Strategy that was developed in 2016.

Role of political stability in municipalities

“The formulation of the Energy Emergency Crisis Response and its implementation was hampered by the political instability that mired the Metros of the Gauteng and thus affected the local municipalities,” MEC Khumalo lamented. “This was caused by the failure of any political party to obtain an outright majority at the last local government elections – thus necessitating coalitions, which kept on changing because of differences in political views and priorities.”

“The effect of coalition governments cannot be ignored in the Gauteng province because the 2016 and 2021 local government elections resulted in 10 out of 11 municipalities in the province being hung. This necessitated coalition governments.”

He explained that this challenge and trial could not be avoided as it was one of those painful processes that the political leaders had to go through in order to align and learn political expediency. The Metros ground to a halt as political bickering continued – the focus being on power struggles.

MEC Khumalo continued: “Unfortunately the ordinary citizens suffered the brunt of this paralysis. The political leadership in the Metros served political theatre and drama to the country whilst service delivery in some communities in the metros took a knock, with provision of housing, water and refuse removal being among the problems.”

“When Tshwane Metro was paralysed, citizens and commentators clamoured for the our office to intervene,” the MEC lamented. “But the legislative framework limits what can be done.

Some people even thought coalitions were undemocratic or unconstitutional, but in fact they are.”

“We conducted a formal study to understand what can be done and what were the main causes that paralysed the Metros. Among the myriad of factors, two stand out; the perceived outright power of the Executive Mayor and the need to form council within 14 days. >

Both are linked,” MEC Khumalo explained.

“The perception that if you control the Executive Mayor you have absolute power over the Metro’s resources is the reason for the incessant Motions of No Confidence. The need for council to be formed in such a short period does not allow sufficient time for meaningful engagements and agreements between the coalition partners.”

Biting the bullet

“An easier and quicker solution for the provincial government would have been to place the Metros under administration, something National Treasury considered a number of times, but it would not have been a lasting solution,” the MEC said.

He continued: “As CoGTA we therefore decided to intervene on the ground, working directly with local municipalities and the provincial government at the level of the Office of the Premier as the Energy Emergency Crises was a national and provincial issue, without leaving out the Metros.”

The Premier’s Energy Emergency Council developed a strategy to respond to the energy crisis in the province.

The province's five-point energy crisis response strategy includes eliminating all illegal power connections, installing smart meters in every home and business, improving revenue collection, cleaning the indigent register and replacing all damaged transformers.

Breeding another crisis

MEC Khumalo expounded: “As stated earlier, the provision of electricity neither a provincial nor a municipal competency, however the municipality bears the brunt of loadshedding because citizens experience the lack of electricity on the ground – at municipal level.”

“We were forewarned and noted that the continuous outages that were breaking and straining transformers were also straining water pumps, thus breeding a new crisis – a water crisis!” he exclaimed. “And this is another basic service the citizens expect and demand of the municipalities.”

“Remember that most of Gauteng’s water supply comes from outside the province so it has to be pumped in –besides just the purification. Electricity therefore plays a big role in making this basic commodity available to the citizens of the province.”

“In our response to the crisis we therefore had to keep water supply in mind. Water loadshedding therefore forms part of our response to the energy crisis,” he explained.

Energy crisis response

The Gauteng Crisis Response presented to the Council focused on three areas of intervention;

a. Eskom Transformers Replacement Programme

b. Municipal Programme

i. Transformer Replacement, Smart Meters and Solar High Mast Lighting

ii. Open Cycle Gas Turbines, Micro Grid and Rand Water Loadshedding Exemption

c. GPG Solar Photovoltaic (PV) & Battery Energy Storage System (BESS)

“Poor service delivery breeds protest actions from the citizens, as this is their main tool for voicing out concerns, and this fuels political instability at local level which translates to leadership level,” MEC Khumalo explained. “The bickering in the Metros put more fuel into the fire.”

“Stakeholder engagement at various levels, particularly at local municipalities level became one of the key factors that would influence the success of this strategy. It thus forms part of all our interventions.”

Eskom transformers replacement programme

The province engaged with Eskom and City Power who have the competencies for electricity supply.

“The engagement of these stakeholders resulted in a memorandum of understanding in a few key areas, primary of which is the replacement of transformers that have reached end-of-cycle or have been damaged by loadshedding or have been vandalised, starting in strategic areas or areas that have been without power for a long time,” MEC Khumalo expounded.

The Eskom transformer replacement programme entails replacement of 522 transformers across the Gauteng Province. It also involves the installation of mini-substations which enhance efficient energy distribution and mitigate the effects of loadshedding.

The program includes two types of transformers: pole-mounted and ground-mounted. Pole-mounted transformers are installed on "H frame" structures, while groundmounted transformers are placed on raised plinths. Both are crucial in electrification projects, converting distribution voltages to 400V/220V for household use.

MEC Khumalo added: “Alongside the new transformers, we are installing new Smart Meters that have better vandal-proof protection. This will assist local municipalities with better revenue collection whilst ensuring that the infrastructure is protected.”

“It should also not be forgotten that the burgeoning population of Gauteng puts pressure on this infrastructure and long-term solutions are required and take time,” he expounded. “The situation in Snake Park, Soweto sadly demonstrated this. The influx of jobseekers in the township led to mushrooming of informal houses and a number of transformers got burnt or damaged resulting in the area having no power for over a year. We had to work with our partners to install a number of new transformers to ensure they can handle the current and future loads.”

Increased electricity supply

“Loadshedding occurs when the national demand for electricity is high and Eskom has to ration it out region by region. Our partnership with Eskom and City Power involves the development of own generating capacity for the province, thus minimizing and optimally eradicating the effects of loadshedding on the citizens of the province,” MEC Khumalo continued. “In this regard our response to the energy crisis incorporates the development of Open Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGTs) and Microgrids.”

“The OCGTs will initially add 100MW of electricity to the Gauteng grid which will later be increased to an installed capacity of 300MW.”

The Energy Emergency Crisis response also includes the installation of Photovoltaic (PV) solar panels on rooftops of GPG Health Facilities and Schools to provide continuous and additional electricity – minimizing the use of diesel generators. Diesel generators come with a myriad of challenges from the price of diesel to the storage and thus demand management of the diesel. The PVs are installed in tandem with Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) which enable the solar energy generated in daytime to be stored and accessible after hours or as and when needed.

The installation of these systems will alleviate the impact of load shedding and ensure business continuity at GPG facilities (Hospitals, clinics, municipal service centres and Schools).

MEC Khumalo explains: “The Thelle Mogoerane Regional Hospital has three 12-meter containers housing the inverters and batteries. The hospital has 6 x 250 kW inverters and 3.2 MWh of battery storage. The installed equipment can take the hospital off-grid during a sunny day! This means that during a sunny month the hospital puts no pressure on Eskom and functions normally 24/7!”

Microgrids – service delivery going green

“In line with our partnership with Eskom and City Power we have launched a Solar Micro-grid in Alexandra Township,” MEC Khumalo continued. “The micro-grid uses solar panels have dual technology — getting energy from the sun on top, as well as radiation from the heat from the ground underneath. It comprises 1 megawatt of solar PV panels and 2 megawatt hours of battery storage and supplies electricity to 200 households that have never had formal electricity connections before.”

MEC Khumalo explained: “The grid also includes security features, the boundary walls, paving the dirt road to prevent dust from affecting the efficiency of the system and the electrification of the households (lights, poles, streetlights, cables), and smart meters. It is an integrated system.”

“Collection of revenue is not ignored,” he continued. “The National Treasury provides a free basic electricity grant of 50 kilowatt hours to households. So at least there’s revenue that is coming to City Power. Then they’re also able to take care of the infrastructure.”

“City Power will also benefit from having less pressure on the transformers due to illegal connections which increases in winter. Illegal connections cost City Power millions every winter. In just one year, City Power had to replace mini-substations seven times, which cost them hundreds of thousands every single time.”

The Gauteng Province has committed through the Energy Emergency Crisis Council to replicate these grids in other informal settlements in the province to alleviate pressure on the national grid and the effect of loadshedding on Gauteng citizens. “The microgrids offer a quick electrification solution to address the backlog of our citizen’s access to power, whilst using green energy which is friendly to the environment,” said MEC Khumalo.

Fighting crime in the community the green way

During loadshedding when streetlights go out incidents of crime increase in the communities. These include among others the vandalising of power infrastructure through cable and copper theft. The Energy Emergency Crisis Council identified the installation of Solar High Mast Lights (SHM) as a viable solution.

The SHM will not go off during loadshedding, thus ensuring that the streets in communities remain lit and criminals are deterred.

MEC Khumalo adds: “The Solar High Mast Programme is an innovative and transformative initiative designed to improve public safety and promote sustainable energy use in the municipalities. This project entails the strategic installation of solarpowered high mast lighting systems across various key locations, focusing primarily on underserved and crimeprone areas.”

“By harnessing solar energy, the programme aims to provide reliable, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly lighting solutions that enhance night-time visibility and security. It is a communitycentric approach, involving local stakeholders in the planning and implementation process to ensure the project addresses the specific needs and concerns of the residents.

The ultimate goal of the programme is to reduce crime rates, support after

hours local economic and social activities, and contribute to the overall development and wellbeing of the community while also aligning with broader environmental sustainability goals.”

“The SHMs will also be aligned to strategic infrastructure locations to ensure that CCTV cameras can be used to constantly monitor and discourage crime,” said MEC Khumalo. “Ultimately these lights should be rolled out throughout the province to reduce electricity demand.”

“The use of SHMs also removes the scourge of illegal connections that are made on standard high mast lights, thus saving the local municipality from loss of revenue,” the MEC added.

Alleviating and preventing the next crisis – water supply

MEC Khumalo explained: "The energy crisis has also had a negative impact on water reticulation and water treatment. Part of the province's energy response includes prioritising the provision of uninterrupted quality water supply and treatment."

"We have started a programme to mitigate the water supply interruptions brought about by power outages and loadshedding through the creation of an additional point from a separate substation to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply to the Rand Water booster stations at the Eikenhof Pumpstation and Robertsville Booster Stations,” he added.

"This intervention is designed to exclude these stations from the loadshedding schedule and enhance the reliability of water supply not only to our province, but to the Free State and parts of the North West Provinces as well,” he continued.

Benefits of increased available capacity for Gauteng

City Power has refurbished and recommissioned the Open-Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGTs) at the John Ware and Karzene substations to provide at least 50MW of electricity each to the grid in Gauteng.

MEC Khumalo explained: “Through the energy crisis response council, City Power and the Gauteng provincial government signed a memorandum of understanding to help eradicate loadshedding in the province even when Eskom ramped up load-shedding to higher stages. The province, through City Power, plans to build power generating capacity to deal with loadshedding and decrease over-reliance on Eskom.”

“The province will support City Power to use its interventions of decreasing load-shedding, such as load limiting and recommissioning open-cycle gas turbines,” he added. “Not only will this be limited to the City of Johannesburg, but the plan is to roll out its interventions in other municipalities in Gauteng.”

Stakeholder engagement and relations

“The importance of stakeholder engagement and relations cannot be overstated,” MEC Khumalo said. “We had been made to understand that the Low Voltage network around Evaton Central & Small Farms had collapsed, thus Eskom was unable to install the 106 failed Transformers, even though they were available.”

“By engaging Eskom, the local municipality and community, we managed to find a solution. At the end more contractors were engaged and the turn around time to install transformers in the townships of Sebokeng, Orange Farm, Palm Springs and Evaton West was shortened,” he added.

MEC Khumalo said, “When we engaged with City Power we learned that there are a number of OCGTs that can be brought on line to supply the province with power. This infrastructure has been standing idle for years and only needs refurbishment.”

"We set an objective for ourselves that we cannot sit aside as the provincial government while the situation [loadshedding] is getting out of control as it is. Load-shedding has huge economic implications for the province and the investments that we want for the province."

“The protracted national electricity crisis had caused significant hardship for people in the province and had had a detrimental effect on the growth of Gauteng’s economy. Power shortages have a negative impact on the availability of healthcare services, food and water, the level of crime, and unemployment rates, among others,” the MEC said.

“The province requires at least 3 000MW of electricity to escape from the grips of load-shedding,” he added. “Gauteng consumes about 24% of the 41,5 GW of electricity produced by Eskom for the country. Since we plan to grow economically, we shall need more.”

Stability at political level

“For efficient delivery of services at local municipality level, the importance of stable political leadership at the level of the Metro is of outright importance,” MEC Khumalo said. “The infighting at the Metros has shown that South Africa is not ready for coalition governments. It takes a certain level of maturity to run a coalition. Seeing it work in developed countries makes people think it is doable here, but we are a country still developing.”

MEC Khumalo expounds: “Based on what we learned from our study and

are experiencing on the ground, going to 2026 elections, our office shall engage on the following;

• Consult extensively with municipalities, political parties and SALGA with a view to introduce Collective Executive Type for the whole province after the local government elections – this will reduce Motions of No Confidence on Executive Mayors;

• Engage COGTA National to determine the best ways to introduce legislative and regulatory frameworks to regulate various aspects of local government impacted by coalitions including the period allowed to constitute Council after elections, drafting of coalition

agreements, motions of no confidence going forward etc; and

• Engage the IEC to run a modelling exercise to test the viability and appropriate levels to set electoral thresholds for municipalities as well as legislative implications.”

He continued: “There are still many issues to process to get coalitions right. Our reality though is the messy coalition governments we are witnessing in Gauteng metros. We need to stabilise those so that we can serve our people correctly.”

“We therefore have to make choices as political leaders whether we want to play politics or serve our communities,” MEC Mzikayifane Khumalo concludes.