By Mbali Tanana
Troubled Makana Local Municipality has been identified as the only municipality in the Eastern Cape to receive a chunk of the R2bn conditional grant offered by the National Treasury to help capacitate embattled municipalities drowning in debt, to roll out smart meters as part of the Eskom debt relief programme.
Local Government Budget Analysis director at National Treasury, Sadesh Ramjathan, responsible for the municipal Eskom debt and smart meter roll out project, said the grant, which should be utilised by the end of the national departments financial year, in February 2025, aims to help the municipality write off the R57,8 million debt it currently owes Eskom, on condition it complies with prerequisites as per the MFMA Circular 124.
Ramjathan said the debt write-off was one of two incentives of the fund, the other was the rolling out of the smart electricity meters which would help the municipality track, identify and respond to electricity issues instantly.
“We are bringing R100 million to this municipality from the R500 million grant, the rest will service other municipalities throughout the country as well. Makana Municipality is the only municipality in the province we have selected to support, and unlike other municipalities, it is the only municipality to be granted R100 million as other municipalities will receive support with smaller amounts,” he said.
While Makana Municipality will be getting the lion’s share of the grant, Ramjathan said the municipality would not get its hands on the money physically, as the funds would be managed strictly by National Treasury that would also facilitate the implementation of the project through its service provider, Johannesburg-based Landis+Gyr (Pty) Ltd. This is part of the conditions of the grant.
The three-year project, which comes with an additional two-year support plan from National Treasury, would still need the municipality to establish a maintenance plan. However, the close out report for installation is due to conclude in February, before the end of the financial year.
Landis+Gyr (Pty) Ltd global head of utility business solutions and smart energy, Harold-John Hayes said they would be replacing all single phase meters for pre-payment, post-payment and credit meters that are currently serviced by the municipality and not the Eskom serviced meters.
“We will be replacing about 11 500 meters in households across Makhanda and with the smart meters we will educate the end users on how to utilise the smart meters, and upon registering, they will be able to connect to their smart meters through cell phone devices or computers allowing them access to their smart meter from anywhere, at a small fee.”
“Our team will be managers of the project and we have already identified a contractor that will be working with us, but the municipality is yet to appoint SMMEs that we will be working with, so jobs in the community will be created as we also aim to build, operate and transfer skills,” said Hayes.
Makana Local Municipality speaker Mthuthuzeli Matyumza applauded the municipality’s finance department for their diligence in preparing the proposal and business plan that saw them awarded the grant by National Treasury, although there were still some teething problems that were yet to be dealt with.
