Z
outpansberger
6 Maart 2020
News with an independent soul
www.zoutpansberger.co.za
PRYS: R5,00 BTW Ing.
Joubertstraat 16B Louis Trichardt TEL: 516 4996/7/8
Nog ‘n groot boom van die Soutpansberg val - bladsy 3
Jaargang 36 Vol. 09
Slange hierdie tyd van die jaar baie bedrywig - bladsy 5
The horror of the 1918 flu which claimed millions - page 8
Can the lights stay on? be maintained if the network is not upgraded? On a positive note, the SoutpansIn April last year, a report berg and the rest of the country from the municipality’s technical have been spared the scourge department indicated that, at that of load shedding the past week. stage, Makhado required 55MVA of This could not be said of last electricity. The problem of electrical week when Louis Trichardt and faults and poor response time by surrounds were left in the dark the municipality was also highlightas a result of numerous electrical ed by their most recent draft annual faults, some of which were a direport for 2018/19. rect result of last weekend’s load “It should be noted that, whilst shedding. the municipality is doing well During the early hours of Saturwith regards to electrification, the day, 22 February, thieves tried to municipality is experiencing a huge steal copper cables at the Stubbs challenge with regard to operation Street substation during load shed- and maintenance of the current ding. Although they failed in their electrical infrastructure. Lack of endeavour, the damage to the subfunding, as well as a very large station caused a 20-hour blackout backlog in preventative mainteto large parts of Louis Trichardt as nance, have been identified as key the Makhado Municipality strugrisks, which the municipality will gled to repair the damage. need to focus on urgently. Another This incident and the municicritical challenge is of bulk-supply pality’s inability to respond quickly capacity to expand the growth of once again highlighted the dilapthe town. To date, the municipaliidated state of Louis Trichardt’s ty’s electrical bulk capacity amounts electricity network as a result of to 48 MVA. This capacity is not poor maintenance and a lack of enough if the municipality intends upgrading. In February 2017, the to meet the Special Economic Zone town’s available notified maximum expectations. The municipality demand (NMD) was already at is currently in negotiations with 44 mega volt amp (MVA), with ESKOM and it is anticipated that the demand almost maxed out. In an additional 18MVA will be made June of that year, the municipality available in the year 2020/21,” the applied to Eskom for an increase to report reads. 66 MVA. Almost three years later, As mentioned, the report also what had happened to the muhighlights the municipality’s low nicipality’s application is still not response rate to fault reporting. known. In the meantime, apart“The municipality is experiencing ment buildings and other structures a low response rate with regard to are mushrooming everywhere in responding to call-outs. A total of town. This warrants the question 11 117 calls were logged with the asked by many: How long can the call centre during the year under electricity supply to Louis Trichardt review,” the report states. It then By Andries van Zyl
gives a breakdown of faults reported and attended to over the previous four years, namely 6 528 for 2015/16, 7 283 for 2016/17, 5 326 for 2017/18 and then 11 117 for 2018/19. The spike in faults
2020 Volkswagen T Cross
26km
PROPERTIES
R399 995 *excl. on the road fee
www.ayobmotors.co.za
Audited Distribution Figures
9 772409 283001
09
Ad designed by Zoutnet Publishers
Tel: (015) 516 5175
plaints related to electricity services. Due to the municipality’s vast electrical network, the determination of the losses is a challenge. (Contd on P2)
Makhado also fed-up with Vhembe?
Residents of Louis Trichardt might have noticed that the Makhado Municipality has been drilling for water at the Civic Centre the past week. This begged the question: Has the Makhado Municipality now also become fed-up with the Vhembe District Municipality regarding the constant water shortages in town? The municipality on Wednesday stated that the drilling was to secure standby water resources in case there is an abrupt water shortage in the normal supply system. “It’s a health and occupational requirement for staff and customers in the municipality building that water should always be available,” said the municipality.
131 Krogh Street (C/o Krogh & Ruh st) Louis Trichardt 0920 HAMMANN
ISSN 2409-2835
reported and attended to in 2018/19 is contributed to improved monitoring of performance through the municipal call centre. “On average, 88% of all calls received at the call centre were com-
Carel Hammann 082 923 1620 hammannc@vodamail.co.za
Levubu - 322Ha. R6 mil plus BTW Gunstig geleë vir ontwikkeling. Bonnox omhein. 11 Weikampe. 2 Stelle krale met water en hanterings geriewe. Werkers behuising.