Latest news with #FransBoshielo
The Citizen
3 days ago
- Business
- The Citizen
Private sector stepping up to help metro safeguard electricity infrastructure
MMC for Utilities Frans Boshielo has made an urgent appeal to all residents to assist the municipality in protecting electricity infrastructure across the metro. Boshielo emphasised that a growing number of private companies are already stepping in to support this effort, including car manufacturer BMW in Rosslyn. BMW has partnered with the municipality to secure the electricity infrastructure in Rosslyn by installing cameras and motion detectors. 'The safeguarding of infrastructure is not just the municipality's job; it's everyone's responsibility. 'We are grateful for companies like BMW and others that are already supporting these efforts,' he said. One such success story can be found in Pretoria North, where the Van Riebeeck Substation has been fitted with a cutting-edge alarm system to combat cable theft, vandalism and repeated power outages. The substation has been targeted multiple times. These incidents often leave residents in the dark for days and cause major losses to local businesses and homeowners. Boshielo said the municipality has thus far received a lot of donations from people in private society and business, who are keen to safeguard the infrastructure in their vicinities to ensure there is no vandalism. 'We are encouraging businesspeople to come forward this way. This is their infrastructure. We need to work together. We have got what we call the Community Upliftment Programme (CUP), where other stakeholders are coming forward to assist.' Boshielo said the process of wanting to play a role in safeguarding the infrastructure is simple: write a letter to the municipality, and you will receive communication. 'The letter must also include the nature of assistance that businesses and residents want to provide to the metro. 'I can confirm that the metro did receive a donation for the Van Riebeeck substation. Prospective donors came forward and said they want to help us. Such donations and partnerships are assisting us a lot because we are losing a lot more due to cable theft,' said Boshielo. Ward 2 councillor Quentin Meyer said cable theft has caused major damage and outages, but with the newly alarmed substation, criminals no longer have a place to steal. Karen Yssel, a business owner who was instrumental in pushing the project forward, said she was spurred into action after hearing about the break-ins at the substation. 'I decided to help Maximum Security get the necessary authorisation from the municipality to install the alarm system,' she said. 'It was a proactive step that could save the metro millions in infrastructure damage.' The system at the Van Riebeeck substation includes a wireless security system with door sensors, passive infrared sensors, and outdoor perimeter beams, monitored by a 24/7 control room. ALSO READ: Lawless school setup infuriates Theresapark residents Do you have more information about the story? Please send us an email to [email protected] or phone us on 083 625 4114. For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord's websites: Rekord East For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram or TikTok.
IOL News
01-07-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Tshwane's Boshielo dismisses DA's claims of increased power outages as electioneering tactics
City of Tshwane MMC for Utility Services, Frans Boshielo, responds to DA accusations about increased power outages in Tshwane, citing scheduled maintenance and neglect by previous administrations as the cause. Image: Oupa Mokoena / Independent Media Frans Boshielo, Tshwane's Member of the Mayoral Committee for Utility Services, has dismissed the DA's claims that the city is experiencing more power outages than during load shedding as nothing more than electioneering tactics. This follows DA finance spokesperson Jacqui Uys' statement that her party met with Tshwane officials amid widespread and ongoing power outages across the city. She said: 'Ineptitude and poor workmanship have caused continuous power outages across the City of Tshwane, with the city now seeing more power outages than during load shedding.' Uys said the coalition government's decision to prohibit officials from working on emergency power outages after hours has exacerbated the situation. She was referring to the new overtime policy, which restricts after-hours work and aims to cut excessive overtime payments while supposedly maintaining critical services. The city has previously denied that the policy, which took effect on April 1, would harm service delivery or lead to prolonged power outages due to limited staff availability outside regular hours. Uys said: 'While the administration cites cost control as the reason, a report presented to the city's finance committee revealed that R130 million in electricity revenue was lost in April alone, primarily due to power outages.' She cited an example of planned maintenance over the weekend, which was scheduled for four hours and affected most of eastern Pretoria. She claimed that the project was a failure, had to be rescheduled, and still left residents without power for up to 24 hours due to poor workmanship and problematic overtime rules. 'The DA supports the responsible management of overtime, and that work that needs to get done in office hours is done in office hours. It cannot be business as usual in case of emergencies where entire communities are left in the dark at a cost to both residents and the city,' Uys said. Reacting to the claims, Boshielo said: 'That statement by the DA is electioneering, they know for a fact that the City of Tshwane has published scheduled maintenance that needed to be done for the electrical network.' According to him, outages are not comparable to load shedding, and the issue stems from the outages needed to connect the Njala/N4 power lines, which affected the eastern part, as the network had to be switched off upstream to allow energisation. 'The fact of the matter is that this current administration communicated through official portals which the DA councillors are part of and instead of preparing the affected ward, they want to score cheap political points,' he said. He explained that before the current administration took office, the substations had been plagued by vandalism, theft, and inadequate maintenance budget allocation. In contrast, he said, the current administration has increased the maintenance budget, enabling scheduled maintenance, unlike under the previous DA administration led by former mayor Cilliers Brink. 'The withdrawal of static security personnel by the DA administration exposed the city's infrastructure to vandalism and theft. Illegal connections of electricity are also contributing to electrical network overload and tripping, but the current outages, as I have said, do not surpass load shedding, as the DA alleged,' Boshielo said. [email protected]
