Two power stations which have not generated electricity for about a decade are costing the Tshwane Municipality about R300 million a year to maintain.
The Tshwane municipality said the Rooiwal and Pretoria West power stations have the capacity to generate 700 megawatts of electricity before falling into disuse. Tshwane Mayor Cilliers Brink said the city does not have the money to get them working again, hence it approached the private sector.
The power stations are sitting idle and can assist to ease load shedding but Cyril Ramaphosa has been given R165 billion to take South Africa into Independent Power Producers (IPPs) which have dismally failed in Europe. Rolling blackouts erode our infrastructure, make us poorer, and harm our local government funding model every day.
Tshwane Municipal Council has approved a plan for the city to lease out the Rooiwal & Pretoria West Power Stations for 40 years. Yes we would like reliable electricity but at what cost to the consumer?
Mayor Cilliers Brink announced that this was to reduce the city’s dependence on Eskom with the aim of producing 1000 MW in the next three years. How much will we be charged, and what long-term repercussions will this agreement between the City of Tshwane municipality and this power supplier have on us?
We have a problem with illegal electricity connections and meter tampering which affects the price of electricity. People end up paying for those who have connected illegally, the city must explain to us how an IPP will mitigate this challenge.
We as Arise South Africa are not too excited about the power lease until we see the fine print!
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