Postponed: Knysna Municipality Energy Plans

Meeting report

Opening remarks

The Chairperson welcomed all the members of the Committee and officials to the meeting and noted that the Committee convened to engage with the Knysna Municipality on its projected plans for the 2023/24 Energy Infrastructure allocations, including the Emergency funding allocated to assist municipalities.

Further, he informed Members that the Committee did not receive an apology from the Mayor, although the Committee sent various emails and communication, but he understood that the Mayor was in Swellendam.

Ms Lizette Cloete, Senior Procedural Officer, said she had spoken with the Mayor’s Personal Assistant, who confirmed that the Mayor was in Swellendam, attending a meeting.

The Chairperson said the Committee also received apologies from the Municipal Manager, Ms Mbali Sebola, and Mr Toli Biyela, who is the Manager of Electrical Services in the municipality.

Ms Cloete said she had also just received an email from Ms Buziwa Mjamba, apologising on behalf of the Executive Mayor. Council that had to attend an urgent meeting in Swellendam.

Mr P Marais (FF+) said that everyone treated the Committee like it did not deserve a minute of their time, including the Minister of Electricity and the entire team from Knysna. He was sitting in the meeting in protest because the Knysna municipality did not bother pitching up to the meeting. He suggested that the meeting be cancelled until the Minister of Electricity and the Mayor of Knysna municipality could attend because they were treating the Committee with utter contempt.

The Chairperson informed Mr Marais that the Committee had dealt with the Minister’s attendance in a letter that he drafted to the Committee. He was satisfied that the Minister had noted that he was willing to attend, but he could not attend the meeting due to the AGOA Forum so, it was unfair to say the Minister was unwilling to cooperate.

Mr Marais said it was the fourth time the Minister made an excuse.

The Chairperson said this time around, the Committee was in constant communication with the Office of the Minister, and it was not like the previous three times.

Mr A Van der Westhuizen (DA) said he had missed the Chairperson’s letter regarding the Minister’s attendance at the meeting.

Mr C Dugmore (ANC) did not think the meeting should proceed because there cannot only be a single official of the municipality in the meeting. If the Mayor is not available, there must be other councillors that specifically deal with this portfolio, and the Committee must insist that it is treated with respect. It is understandable that meeting clashes can happen at times, but respect for the Committee would have meant the Mayor would have at least ensured that other people with capacity were sent to attend the meeting. There are certain issues that the official that was sent to the meeting would not be able to respond to, so the Mayor or political leadership from the council needed to be in the meeting. The Committee Coordinator must follow up with both the political and administrative leadership of the municipality.

There was no resistance from the Minister of Electricity so his absence was understandable. Regarding the meeting, he suggested that the Committee consider a date when the political leadership and Mayor of Knysna are available because proceeding with the meeting would be a waste of time.

Mr F Christians (ACDP) agreed that the Committee was treated with contempt because a meeting of such importance cannot have the Mayor, Municipal Manager, and the Director in charge of electricity all absent. He suggested that a letter be written to the Mayor and Municipal Manager to tell them that they must have a political head, and a director, in charge of electricity to be part of the meeting and to not send an official to such an important meeting. The meeting should not continue until those people are available.

Mr Van der Westhuizen said the invitation to the Minister and the Knysna Municipality went out a long while ago, and the date of the AGOA Summit was also communicated well in advance so the Minister would have known early if he would be available for the meeting or not. Technology also makes it easier for members to attend these meetings without having to travel to Parliament. The province went out of its way to assist municipalities in addressing the load shedding challenges and transferred millions of Rands in the process to various local municipalities.

Parliament has oversight over the spending of the money provided by the province, and it is important for Parliament to be convinced that the money has been spent wisely, which is why politicians and other spheres must be engaged. It is unfair to expect an official from the municipality to be able to answer questions from Members of Parliament. Mr Van der Westhuizen was also uncomfortable with continuing with the meeting.

Mr G Pretorius (DA) said on the last occasion when Knysna Municipality was supposed to present, they did not even pitch, and the Committee knew nothing about it, and this was the second time that they did the same thing. He said this was utterly disrespectful in terms of procedure and concurred with the members who said the meeting must be postponed.

Mr Grant McDonald, Acting Director: Infrastructure Services: Knysna Municipality said he is the Acting Director, and the Electrical Engineer is a Senior Manager who reports to him, but he had only been in office for a month, and understood the Committee members' concerns.

The Chairperson said in the light that normally, there are presentations that are sent to the Committee before the day of the meeting, and the Committee did not receive any and that there is no political leadership or representation in the meeting, he agreed with the sentiments of the members that it was unacceptable that there is no representation from the municipality. The Committee sent an invitation to Knysna on 3 October, which was a month ago asking for confirmation of presentations and attendance, and there was no response.

The Chairperson asked the members if they agreed with the proposal by Mr Dugmore, which was seconded by Mr Marais.

Mr Marais said he agreed with the proposal and added that a firm letter must be sent to the Mayor, the Municipal Manager, and whoever was supposed to have attended the meeting, highlighting that the Committee refuses to be treated with such contempt.

The Chairperson said he will draft a letter to the Mayor and the Municipal Manager, informing them that the Committee will have a meeting on 17 November, and they must attend to present on behalf of the municipality. He reassured the members that he was constantly in touch with the Minister of Electricity, and to be fair to the Minister’s office, what he had erred in not mentioning in the letter that he sent to the Committee was that the Minister asked for a date that was before 3 November, but unfortunately, it was the annual report season and the Committee could not accommodate the Minister on a date before 17 November.

Ms Cloete concurred with the Chairperson, noting that they also looked at the Committee programme with the intention to revise it, but because of the annual report season, they could not confirm a date that is before 17 November.

The Chairperson reassured the members that the Minister is committed to briefing the Committee and as noted in the letter, he will brief the Free State Legislature in the morning, and then the WCPP Ad Hoc Committee on Energy Crisis in the Afternoon. The letter to the Mayor and Municipal Manager of Knysna will be circulated to the Committee Members for their perusal, and then the Committee will meet on the 17 November.

Mr Dugmore said he had made a proposal that in one of the Committee’s meetings, it should invite the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) and the City of Cape Town to deal with the issue of the NERSA rate and the surcharge. He had also proposed that the Committee invite the Nelson Mandela Bay University, which is busy with a pilot project working with energy cooperatives in Gqeberha. He was unsure if he should write to the Chairperson about those proposals, considering he had raised the matter before and was concerned that the agenda of 17 November is already full.

He said it might also be useful to check the work of the Ad Hoc Committee in terms of where they currently are in terms of the meetings they have had and should think about how they proceed with their work. it would help the Committee to discuss some of the key stakeholders that they could engage as part of their work so that they could get a sense of where the Committee is going with its work. He felt it would be best if they tabled a report to the legislature before the end of the term of office.

The Chairperson recalled that in the previous meeting, he had mentioned that the City of Cape Town said because the matter is before the courts, it was not willing to present to the Committee before it has been dealt with in the courts.

Ms Cloete said NERSA said it was willing to attend but only after the completion of the litigation process.

Regarding the suggestion to meet with the Nelson Mandela Bay University, the Chairperson said the Committee can reach out to the institution and depending on the length of its presentation try to include them in the meeting on 17 November because any information that the Committee receives will be welcome. The Committee report to the legislature is currently being drafted and the Committee will request a date from the Programming Committee to adopt the draft report.

Mr Marais said the Committee must go wider because the electricity crisis does not only affect municipalities. The Committee must also consider the businesses that are affected by load shedding, including the Chamber of Commerce, and how load shedding affects them.

Ms N Nkondlo (ANC) said that given the time left for the Committee and that it is closing the work of the legislature, she agreed that it would make sense to hear the diverse voices and social partners in understanding the electricity problems and the solutions that could be brought forward. She supported the rationale of casting the net wider to even small businesses, who do not have the surplus resources to buy resources, and added that economic growth should include those who are often marginalised other than focusing on the mainstream.

The Chairperson proposed that the report be drafted and they get a date from the Programming Committee to consider the draft report. In the meantime, he would approach the Chamber of Commerce to ask them if they will be able to provide a list of SMMEs that can also be approached by the Committee to hear from them about the effect of load shedding on their businesses and their mitigating factors, as well as the Chamber of Commerce to present before the Committee, as well as Wesgro to hear of they have made any interventions to assist businesses regarding load shedding.

The members agreed.

The Chairperson committed to having the draft report done before the end of the term.

Ms Cloete said it should be noted that once the 6th Parliament lapses, the 7th Parliament can elect another Ad Hoc Committee and the resolutions of the 6th Parliament will continue.

Mr Dugmore said he had posted the number of Professor Janet Cherry from Nelson Mandela Bay University on the chat group.

The Chairperson thanked Mr Dugmore and assured him that they would contact her. He thanked the members for their attendance and robust discussion, noting that the Committee will meet again on 17 November.

The meeting was adjourned.