Mashaba announces measures to curb power outages, improve billing sytem

Mashaba delivered his second State of the City address on Wednesday.

 

He said the city has managed to refurbish and maintain its electrical infrastructure in an attempt to limit outages.

 

“We have overseen the complete refurbishment of 39 substations. We also conducted repairs and maintenance on 37 of our transformers,” Mashaba said.

 

The City of Joburg has a R17 billion electrical infrastructure backlog which it claims was inherited from the previous administration.

 

“Over 27% of our bulk transformers now operate beyond their useful lifespan, ranging between 48 and 91-years-old.

 

“That is right, some of these transformers were built in 1927,” he told councillors.  

 

Mashaba said plans are also in place to improve the city’s crisis-ridden billing system.

 

Some residents have not been receiving their monthly statements due to the recent increase in value-added tax.

 

Mashaba says the billing system is showing signs of improvement.

 

“I think if you really look at the improvement of our billing challenge has really been messy. Would it be where would like it to be? Absolutely not. We still have a long way to go. Definitely without any doubt, our billing challenges are not where they used to be six months ago or a year ago.”