In his reply to the opposition parties' criticism on the state of municipalities, Saul vowed to work tirelessly with municipalities. He says they will improve the quality of basic service delivery across the province. He adds they are working closely with the Sol Plaatje municipal officials to look into all the challenges troubling the municipality. 

During his Sopa on Tuesday evening, Saul said this municipality was amongst many which will benefit from 16 Human Settlement projects which have the potential to create about 1 010 job opportunities.

He said in expediting the expansion of electricity generation, the province will focus on capacitating our municipalities to be able to generate their own electricity. “Eskom will continue to roll out their electrification projects, which include the implementation of 14 projects, amongst others, resulting in at least 2 081 connections,” he added.

In 2019, Parliament revealed that the Northern Cape’s bulk municipal debt to Eskom escalated from R192 million in 2015 to R1,3 billion in 2019 - which is an escalation of about 577% in four years.

Parliament further said that two municipalities from the ZF Mgcawu District Municipality, namely Kai Garib and Tsantsabane, and Gamagara in the John Taolo Gaetsewe District, as well and Siyancuma in the Pixley ka Seme District Municipality, then owed the power utility R639 million for bulk electricity supply.

OFM News