DA MP and permanent delegate to the National Council of Provinces in the Free State Igor Scheurkogel has written to the Presidential Hotline, Free State department of cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta), Public Protector and South African Human Rights Commission. He called for urgent attention to the outages. The municipality serves Sasolburg, Deneysville, Oranjeville and Viljoensdrif.

Residents have been without electricity for up to two weeks, with households reporting spoiled food, businesses losing income, and vulnerable residents struggling to cope. Some residents who rely on continuous medical oxygen therapy have also reportedly been affected.

Scheurkogel said the municipality’s response could not simply be measured by the number of fault references logged.

“Of particular concern are reports from Deneysville residents who have approached the municipal offices for assistance, only to allegedly be informed by officials that the officials would not report the outages on their behalf and that residents were required to report the problems themselves. 

“If this is indeed the case, this conduct is deeply concerning and inconsistent with the obligations placed upon a municipal administration.”

Metsimaholo municipality attributed the prolonged outages in parts of Deneysville and Oranjeville mainly to repeated vandalism and the theft of electrical cables and other infrastructure. Municipal spokesperson Gino Alberts said municipal electrical teams and appointed service providers were attending to the affected areas.

However, Scheurkogel questioned why residents were allegedly being left without electricity for extended periods before replacement materials were secured.

“It is extremely concerning that after residents have reportedly been without electricity for as long as 14 days, the response communicated by municipal officials is that they will now ‘make a plan to purchase the cables’. How does a municipality reach the fourteenth day of a prolonged electricity outage before making arrangements to procure the material necessary to restore supply?”

He said a shortage of essential materials could not become justification for prolonged service interruptions. Several properties in Deneysville have had experienced prolonged outages.

These include:

• 55 Van der Merwe Street, where electricity was reportedly unavailable for approximately two weeks following the theft of a cable associated with a transformer.
• Residents at 4 Hof Street, 45 Plein Street, 26 Henle Street and 18 and 21 Wilhelmina Street were reportedly without electricity for approximately eleven days following cable theft.
• An outage was also reported at the corner of Plein and Lake Streets, where the affected resident was reportedly unable to operate a restaurant over the weekend.
• Another outage was reported at 37 Ross Street.

Scheurkogel said the impact was particularly serious because Deneysville relies heavily on tourism, hospitality and small businesses.

“A tourism town cannot reasonably be expected to grow its local economy where reliable electricity and water services cannot be assured.” He warned prolonged infrastructure failures could have consequences beyond individual households.

“Extended failures of basic municipal infrastructure therefore affect not only individual households, but also employment, tourism, business confidence, investment, and the municipality’s own revenue base,” he added.

Scheurkogel is calling on the municipality to urgently restore electricity to all affected properties and provide clear restoration timelines. 

He also wants Metsimaholo to provide affected communities with formal updates detailing the repairs required, the availability of cables, transformers and other materials, procurement timelines, responsible departments and officials, as well as expected restoration dates.

The DA has further requested that authorities assess whether the municipality requires additional support or intervention to fulfil its service-delivery responsibilities.

The Public Protector has been asked to consider allegations of maladministration, unreasonable delays, failure to respond to residents, and possible shortcomings in the municipality’s administrative systems if the matters remain unresolved.

The SAHRC has also been asked to take note of the prolonged impact on residents, particularly vulnerable people, and the wider implications for dignity, safety, and access to essential municipal services.

Scheurkogel has requested an urgent written response from Metsimaholo setting out the steps being taken to restore electricity to every affected property listed in his correspondence.

OFM News/Kekeletso Mosebetsi cvs

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