Deputy mayor denies promising Nelson Mandela Bay community temporary electricity after protests

Residents of Grogro are still in the dark, both literally and figuratively. A month has passed since protests disrupted traffic and businesses along Kragga Kamma Road in Gqeberha after Nelson Mandela Bay City officials cut hazardous illegal electricity connections supplying the informal settlement with power.

To keep the peace, political heads said R7-million would be allocated to providing the roughly 1,000 residents with temporary electrical infrastructure while they engaged the owner of the property to negotiate some kind of purchase agreement.

But after more than four weeks and several engagements between City officials, community leaders and representatives of the property owner, Grogro’s hopes of legal electricity connections seem even further off than they were 40 years ago when the first residents moved there. 

In fact, if the City’s Electricity and Energy Directorate honoured the promises made by delegations, led by deputy mayor Gary van Niekerk, it would actually be breaking the law.

Meanwhile, despite several sources confirming the promises made under Van Niekerk’s watch, the deputy mayor seems to be backtracking on his word to the community that temporary electricity will be provided, claiming that these were “inaccurate reports”.

Voicing the community’s frustrations, Zukile Futa said the Grogro residents’ patience is wearing thin. “It has been almost five weeks since we protested. Van Niekerk and his delegations came to us and told us they will make R7-million available and they can install a transformer for us within seven days.

“It has been more than three weeks since our leadership met with City officials, including Van Niekerk, at their offices at [Noninzi Luzipho Building] where they told us a transformer would be sourced for a ‘non-invasive electricity solution’.

“They promised us daily communication and weekly meetings until the services were provided. None of these promises was kept,” said Futa.

He said another meeting has been scheduled for Thursday, and they have convinced Grogro residents to stay calm until they return with feedback from the meeting.

“After that, I don’t know. Our people are not happy. All they see are empty promises by careless politicians,” said Futa.

Futa’s comments come against the backdrop of an Electricity and Energy Directorate meeting, held last week, wherein the directorate distanced itself from Van Niekerk’s promises. 

ACDP councillor Lance Grootboom had previously voiced his concerns about the situation at Grogro as the settlement appeared nowhere in the directorate’s plans for areas to receive electricity services in the foreseeable future.

Read more: NMB politicians warn R7m electricity promise to informal settlement could break rules

And during last week’s meeting, when areas such as Bayland, Joe Slovo, Kuyga, Moeggesukkel and Motherwell were listed for electrification, Grootboom asked why Grogro and the proposed R7-million was not listed.

This led to senior officials distancing themselves from Van Niekerk’s promises, and acting executive director Bernhardt Lamour saying the municipality could not legally install a transformer on private land.

Following the committee meeting, Grootboom said it is “deeply disappointing” to see the deputy mayor making promises to the residents of Grogro where no budget even exists, and law prohibits this type of installation on private land.

“Our communities have been waiting for years for basic services and, when officials make commitments that cannot legally or practically be fulfilled, it misleads residents and fuels frustration. This is how people end up on the streets, blockading roads just to be heard.

“The City itself has now confirmed that it cannot install a transformer there. Yes, there are talks of the City possibly buying the land, but we all know such a process will take very long, and residents should not be misled into thinking this will happen overnight. Residents deserve transparency, not empty promises,” said Grootboom.

Several media reports and independent sources confirmed that Van Niekerk and his delegation promised Grogro temporary electricity in the form of a transformer. However, last week, following the Electricity and Energy Committee meeting, Van Niekerk refuted making such promises.

Shortly after the initial meeting with the community on October 20, ward 39 councillor Margaret de Andrade sent out an official communication stating that Van Niekerk told the community that negotiations for the purchase of the land was ongoing and that a transformer will be delivered within seven days for connecting electricity to the residents of Grogro.

Meeting minutes, recorded by Grogro leadership during their meeting with City officials, including Van Niekerk on October 24, stated that officials confirmed a transformer would be sourced and assessments will be done for the safe installation of the transformer. 

However, last week Van Niekerk seemed to backtrack on these discussions.

“Where do you come by this notion that I promised the community of Grogro a transformer? ... Your report is inaccurate,” said Van Niekerk.

When asked if he denied making these promises, and whether he would like to set the record straight on what his commitments to the Grogro community actually were, Van Niekerk did not respond.

Meanwhile, the landowner said he is eagerly awaiting feedback from the municipality regarding negotiations over the property.

Dr Albert van Rooyen, the owner of the land on which the Grogro informal settlement was established, said that he met with City officials in October who informed him that several reports needed to be compiled before negotiations could continue, and that they would revert once this process was finalised. To date, he has received no response.

He had further telephonic engagements with other City officials who wanted to arrange a meeting with him to discuss the property yet, despite following up with them about a date for the meeting, he is still to receive any confirmation.

“This has been an ongoing battle for many years, and I have lost several other interested buyers along the way.

“I want this community to have a better life and to receive the services they so desperately want and need, but for that to happen the right processes need to be followed,” said Van Rooyen.

When asked about the amount currently on the table for the piece of land where Grogro is situated, Van Rooyen declined to answer as he said that was still part of the negotiations. DM