Unstable electricity supply in Ditsobotla threatens businesses

File image: A banner of the Ditsobotla Local Municipality.

2 minutes

Some businesses in the troubled Ditsobotla Local Municipality in Lichtenburg in the North West may be forced to close their doors soon as the municipality struggles to provide them with stable electricity.

Many businesses have been without electricity for weeks and are forced to spend extra money to find other sources of energy.

The situation has led to the North West Government proposing that Eskom take over power provision to the municipality.

Some local business owners say they might have no choice but to close their doors.

One of the workers says, “We have to buy a R3800 diesel everyday to get the generator running to do what we have to do in this shop. So we’ve got 22 employees and we all are worried about the situation.”

Another says, “For us it’s going to be a challenge because somewhere somehow our boss told us he will have to close the shop down and we will be left without a job and it’s the 22 of us with kids, our parents and it’s going to be painful.”

The provincial government met with councillors this week.

North West Premier Lazarus Mokgosi says, “We then said one of the options is to have Eskom take the total operations of electricity here. So that we are offsetting what the municipality seems to have as a challenge. So it’s a conversation that we have to come here because by law it’s the municipality that is responsible.”

Mokgotsi says, “So we can’t just come and take that function. So we are in agreement the municipality expressed their views and they have agreed with us that we must come and discuss in detail how is it going to be done.”-Reporting by Gontse Sekhantso.