The Makana municipality has until Monday to respond to a high court notice of motion calling for it to intervene in Eskom’s plans to switch off electricity in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown) for long parts of the day.
The embattled municipality is facing a looming crisis with the planned power outages.
It owes Eskom R90m, dating back to 2013/2014.
The court move comes after Eskom placed advertisements in The Herald and Daily Dispatch on March 14 indicating that Makhanda’s electricity would be switched off for between four and 14 hours a day.
Attorney Brin Brody said in a statement issued on behalf of the Grahamstown Business Forum, Grahamstown Residents’ Association, Beer Properties and Pick n Pay that the proposed electricity interruptions would cause severe economic problems for the town.
This would include water being cut off completely.
“It is nothing less than a disgrace that the Makana municipality has failed to pay the Eskom account when [it] had already received the administration papers, and in which it was indicated how desperate the water situation actually was,” Brody said.
In the notice of motion application and subsequent certificate of urgency submitted to the Eastern Cape High Court in Makhanda, it is claimed that the suspension of electricity would have dire consequences for hospitals, schools, emergency services, travel and tourism, businesses and industry in the Makana municipality.
The planned outages, scheduled to begin on April 2, will be from 6am to 9am and then again from 5pm to 8pm Monday to Friday the first week.
Over the weekend, it will be off from 8.30am to midday and then from 3pm to 7pm.
From the second week onwards, the power will be cut from 6am to 8pm daily, including weekends.
Makana mayor Mzukisi Mpahlwa said last week he did not believe it would get to that point as the municipality planned to pay Eskom R10m this week.
In his founding affidavit to the high court, Richard Gaybba – chair of the Grahamstown Business Forum, which represents more than 40 businesses in Makhanda – said the Eskom proposals would have a devastating and irreparable effect on the Makana municipality and the town’s residents.
“Not only will the [electricity] interruption threaten the very fabric of society, it will threaten, inter alia, Rhodes University, the various private schools, government schools, businesses and the tourism industry,” Gaybba said.
It is not the first time Eskom has threatened to cut Makhanda’s electricity supply, with the outages initially scheduled for December 2018.
After a notice of the planned power cuts appeared in newspapers two months prior to that, the forum conducted a survey on how they would affect businesses and schools.
“Businesses unanimously [said] the effect would be devastating to investment confidence and business and would result in mass retrenchments,” Gaybba said.
“Tourists would avoid Grahamstown and there would be [fewer] bookings in the accommodation industry and [tourists would] never return.
“Most businesses indicated that they did not have a generator to supply their own electricity and [some] guesthouses [said] their income could drop to approximately 20% of their present income.”
According to Gaybba, Kingswood College – which is a private school and on the list of businesses associated with the forum – indicated in the survey that it employed about 100 people, who would be affected if it could no longer operate as a top private school.
“[It has] also made the point that some parents have already elected to send their children elsewhere because of the infrastructure problems at the Makana municipality,” he said.
Gaybba submitted it was logical that it would only be a matter of time before businesses closed down “to the severe detriment of the people who benefit from the businesses”.
“I have no doubt whatsoever that an interruption of electricity, as proposed by Eskom, will result in large-scale civil unrest,” he said.
The parties calling for action have requested for Eskom to order the electricity supply to Makhanda to be uninterrupted, provided that the municipality complies with payment plans agreed upon.
Makana municipal spokesperson Anele Mjekula said it was a serious matter that required internal consultations.
“I will do my best to respond to your questions – however, it could take a bit longer due to the necessary consultation,” Mjekula said.