More Joburg townships connected to power grid

03 June 2015

 

City Power – the City of Johannesburg’s electricity utility – electrified more than 10 townships in the past five years, Member of the Mayoral Committee for Environment and Infrastructure Services Clr Matshidiso Mfikoe has revealed.

 

Tabling the Sustainable Services Cluster report during the City’s 2015-2016 Budget debate on Thursday, MMC Mfikoe said the townships that were electrified included Lehae, Lufhereng, Fleurhof, Tshepisong West, Devland extensions 33 and 35, Elias Motsoaledi phase 1 and Narens Farm.

 

She said the electrification project also covered single sex hostels that had been converted into family units, such as Madala and Helen Joseph hostels in Alexandra and Dube Hostel in Soweto.

 

Clr Mfikoe said in addition, City Power had installed more than 10 000 street lights across the city.

 

She said various projects were under way to support “marginalised areas” such as Orange Farm, Diepsloot, Ivory Park and a number of informal settlements. The projects included the upgrading of bulk infrastructure to support housing initiatives and service delivery. This would cost the City R354 million over the next three years, she said.

 

MMC Mfikoe said in his budget speech last week, MMC for Finance Geoffrey Makhubo allocated more than R25,9 billion to the Sustainable Services Cluster, which oversaw and coordinated the bulk of the City’s service delivery.

 

She said City Power was allocated an operating budget of R15.4 billion for the 2015-2016 financial year and a capital budget of R4.6 billion for the next three years to fund the rollout of the electrification of informal settlements, installation of prepaid meters and smart meters, and the refurbishment of existing infrastructure, among others.

 

MMC Mfikoe said City Power would continue to roll out prepaid electricity meters to secure the City’s revenue streams and to mitigate the impact of load-shedding through oad-limiting smart meters.

 

She said a further R200-million had been set aside for the 2016-2017 financial year’s electrification project.

 

“The City is sensitive to the plight of its residents, who have to bear the brunt of rolling bouts of load-shedding. When Eskom announced this year that it lacked the generating capacity to meet increasing demand, instead of joining the Eskom bashing bazaar, the City of Joburg convened a summit with organised business aimed at discussing possible and practical solutions to the energy shortages,” she said.

 

MMC Mfikoe also said the R7.2 billion operating budget allocated to Johannesburg Water for the 2015-2016 financial year would be used to address infrastructure backlogs, maintenance and water treatment.

 

She said the City’s water programmes included demand management, water loss reduction, upgrading and renewal of ageing infrastructure, and improving water services infrastructure.

 

“The Water Demand Management Programme will see the completion of the Soweto upgrade and renewal programme in 2015-2016. Investigations are under way to ascertain the feasibility of extending this programme to other areas to promote water conservation and losses. A budget of R534-million has been provided for the next three years.”

 

Clr Mfikoe said in a continued bid keep the City clean, waste management entity Pikitup had been allocated a R2 billion operating budget for the next financial year and a R3.23 billion capital budget for the three financial years.

 

She said these allocations would be used to, among other things, fund key projects such as the Integrated Waste Management Programme, street sweeping and eradication of illegal dumping.

 

“Pikitup will put particular focus on the cleanliness of the inner city and ensure that this hub is clean and grime-free. We are encouraged by the visible improvement in many areas of the inner city,” she said.

 

  

City Power – the City of Johannesburg’s electricity utility – electrified more than 10 townships in the past five years, Member of the Mayoral Committee for Environment and Infrastructure Services Clr Matshidiso Mfikoe has revealed.

 

Tabling the Sustainable Services Cluster report during the City’s 2015-2016 Budget debate on Thursday, MMC Mfikoe said the townships that were electrified included Lehae, Lufhereng, Fleurhof, Tshepisong West, Devland extensions 33 and 35, Elias Motsoaledi phase 1 and Narens Farm.

 

She said the electrification project also covered single sex hostels that had been converted into family units, such as Madala and Helen Joseph hostels in Alexandra and Dube Hostel in Soweto.

 

Clr Mfikoe said in addition, City Power had installed more than 10 000 street lights across the city.

 

She said various projects were under way to support “marginalised areas” such as Orange Farm, Diepsloot, Ivory Park and a number of informal settlements. The projects included the upgrading of bulk infrastructure to support housing initiatives and service delivery. This would cost the City R354 million over the next three years, she said.

 

MMC Mfikoe said in his budget speech last week, MMC for Finance Geoffrey Makhubo allocated more than R25,9 billion to the Sustainable Services Cluster, which oversaw and coordinated the bulk of the City’s service delivery.

 

She said City Power was allocated an operating budget of R15.4 billion for the 2015-2016 financial year and a capital budget of R4.6 billion for the next three years to fund the rollout of the electrification of informal settlements, installation of prepaid meters and smart meters, and the refurbishment of existing infrastructure, among others.

 

MMC Mfikoe said City Power would continue to roll out prepaid electricity meters to secure the City’s revenue streams and to mitigate the impact of load-shedding through oad-limiting smart meters.

 

She said a further R200-million had been set aside for the 2016-2017 financial year’s electrification project.

 

“The City is sensitive to the plight of its residents, who have to bear the brunt of rolling bouts of load-shedding. When Eskom announced this year that it lacked the generating capacity to meet increasing demand, instead of joining the Eskom bashing bazaar, the City of Joburg convened a summit with organised business aimed at discussing possible and practical solutions to the energy shortages,” she said.

 

MMC Mfikoe also said the R7.2 billion operating budget allocated to Johannesburg Water for the 2015-2016 financial year would be used to address infrastructure backlogs, maintenance and water treatment.

 

She said the City’s water programmes included demand management, water loss reduction, upgrading and renewal of ageing infrastructure, and improving water services infrastructure.

 

“The Water Demand Management Programme will see the completion of the Soweto upgrade and renewal programme in 2015-2016. Investigations are under way to ascertain the feasibility of extending this programme to other areas to promote water conservation and losses. A budget of R534-million has been provided for the next three years.”

 

Clr Mfikoe said in a continued bid keep the City clean, waste management entity Pikitup had been allocated a R2 billion operating budget for the next financial year and a R3.23 billion capital budget for the three financial years.

 

She said these allocations would be used to, among other things, fund key projects such as the Integrated Waste Management Programme, street sweeping and eradication of illegal dumping.

 

“Pikitup will put particular focus on the cleanliness of the inner city and ensure that this hub is clean and grime-free. We are encouraged by the visible improvement in many areas of the inner city,” she said.