The increased amount of load shedding due to the mismanagement at Eskom means 89 of 257 municipalities in South Africa suffered a loss of R21 billion.
This was due to the loss in profit from electricity sales as people are no longer buying as much electricity due to long hours of load shedding.
This has a ripple effect and leads to loss of income and, as a result, a delay in service delivery. More money is also set aside for water and electricity infrastructure that breaks down due to power cuts.
A study was done by the South African Local Government Association (Salga), listed as a Schedule 3A public entity, to assess what the impact of load shedding on each municipality has been.
One of the biggest findings of the study was that cable theft and vandalism increase during load shedding.
Drakenstein Municipality also confirmed this. According to Louis Pienaar, executive director of engineering services there, it tackles “four to 21 vandalism [incidents per month], with varying degrees of damage.”
On the question of how much loss in rands, on average, the municipality experienced in the 2022-’23 financial year due to a decline in electricity purchases, no amount was given.
“Since the increase in load shedding stages, Drakenstein Municipality has thoroughly analysed and monitored the revenue and expenditure of electricity services,” Pienaar said. “Based on observed trends in both revenue and expenditure, the budget was adjusted downwards during the 2022-’23 financial year.”
The municipality did mention how it generated income lost due to less electricity purchasing. Said Pienaar: “[Its] downward adjustment to the electricity budget in the 2022-’23 financial year enabled it to absorb the changes resulting from load shedding without affecting service delivery.”
Among various other findings, the study found that despite its loss of revenue municipalities around the country are forced to generate more funds towards infrastructure broken down by power cuts. As much as R1,6 billion goes towards maintaining the infrastructure.
Moreover, underfunded municipalities have had to buy fuel and generators for their premises, a move that pushes the budget into the red.
Paarl Post also asked the following questions, which remain unanswered:. How much did it cost the municipality during the 2022-’23 financial year to maintain electrical and water infrastructure that was damaged due to load shedding?. How much did it cost the municipality during the 2022-’23 financial year to buy generators and fuel for its premises?. What’s the impact of lost revenue on service delivery by Drakenstein Municipality. For example, are streets not cleaned as regularly or is law-enforcement presence minimised?. What additional hurdles does the municipality face?
It remains unclear how the municipality tackles load shedding’s financial hurdles, especially for ratepayers.
