Monty Uren has called on the city to give residents a special rebate after they endured four days of no electricity and water supply. (Photo: Supplied / Monty Uren) 
If the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality wants to get back into its residents’ good graces after a prolonged power outage, it should start by offering a special rebate, says resident Monty Uren. The metro, however, has said residents should forget about it.
Uren, who spent 27 years chauffeuring and providing security for at least nine of the city’s mayors, has gained public support after calling on Mayor Babalwa Lobishe to grant residents financial relief following a major power outage that began last Thursday.
Large parts of the city, particularly the western areas, were plunged into darkness after the Bethelsdorp-Greenbushes 132kV powerline was knocked out of action by the collapse of two rusted pylons that supported the line.
The municipality attributed the incident to “infrastructure vandalism, compounded by adverse weather conditions”. The water supply in some areas was also disrupted after the outage disabled pump stations. Politicians and many residents have, however, called the municipality out when it comes to maintenance, citing rust as a factor in the pylons’ collapse.
/file/attachments/orphans/Rust-1_736396.jpg "Rusted infrastructure is said to have played a part in the collapse of the 132Kv Bethelsdorp–Greenbushes line. (Photo: Deon Ferreira)")
Read more: Could Nersa remove Nelson Mandela Bay’s electricity distribution licence?
The municipality initially said full power restoration would take 14 days, before revising this to 10 days. By Tuesday afternoon, however, electricity had been restored to several affected areas.
Read more: Nelson Mandela Bay to spend R10m restoring power after transmission towers collapse
Unacceptable
Uren said the level of service residents received was unacceptable and not worth what they were paying in rates.
“Residents are paying their rates for this type of service. It’s unfair,” he said.
Asked how a special rebate could be implemented, Uren said the municipality should draw on the skills of its skilled professionals to find a solution.
“They have a lot of professional people there who can figure this out,” he said. “They should be asking themselves what they can do to give back to residents after what has happened.”
/file/attachments/orphans/DSC_3042-copy_815566.jpg "The Nelson Mandela Bay municipality initially said it would take about 10 days to complete the restoration of the 132Kv Bethelsdorp–Greenbushes line that collapsed on Thursday. However, electricity was restored within six days. (Photo: Deon Ferreira)")
He suggested that relief could include a temporary rebate on rates or free electricity for a limited period.
“Maybe residents don’t pay rates and taxes for the next two months, or don’t pay for electricity for two months,” he said. “Perhaps a rebate or a discount.”
Uren said that if the municipality lacked the funds to provide relief, it should seek assistance from higher spheres of government.
“If you don’t have the money, go to provincial government. If there’s no money there, go to national government.”
He added that financial constraints across government were ultimately a leadership issue.
“Unfortunately, wherever you go in this government, there’s nothing — everything is bankrupt,” he said. “It starts with leadership. If the leadership at the top is rotten, you’re doomed.”
Municipal response
The municipality has acknowledged residents’ frustration but said no rebates of any kind were planned.
Municipal spokesperson Sithembiso Soyaya said the outage was a serious, unforeseen and unplanned crisis caused by a sudden electricity infrastructure failure, and that the impact on residents, businesses and essential services was fully recognised.
However, he said, the legally correct response to calls for rebates was “no”.
“The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality is not considering special rebates or blanket financial relief on water or electricity accounts as a result of this incident,” said Soyaya.
He said that municipal billing and revenue management were governed by the Municipal Finance Management Act, the Municipal Systems Act, and the municipality’s approved tariff, credit control and debt collection policies.
“These frameworks do not permit discretionary or ad hoc rebates, even in circumstances involving unforeseen crises, unless such relief is explicitly provided for through approved policy instruments and a formal council resolution,” he said.
Soyaya said electricity and water charges were based on actual consumption and council-approved tariffs, and that any unilateral waiver outside the indigent support framework would be unlawful and unfair to other ratepayers, while exposing the municipality to audit findings and financial misconduct risks.
He said the municipality remained focused on infrastructure recovery, strengthening system resilience and preventing a recurrence of the blackout. DM