AfriForum demands action after Tshwane Metro violates substation security agreement
AfriForum today formally called on the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality to immediately comply with its legal and moral obligations after the Metro unlawfully prevented AfriForum from carrying out an approved community project for the safeguarding of the Garsfontein substation in Pretoria. The civil rights organisation is demanding that the Metro grant AfriForum full and immediate access to the substation, and that all Metro officials be instructed not to further obstruct AfriForum’s work. In addition, the organisation is also urging the Metro to reaffirm its commitment to the existing memorandum of understanding (MOU) with AfriForum.
A series of explosions and fires at substations have thrown the Metro’s energy infrastructure into crisis over the past few weeks. These events have plunged entire neighbourhoods, businesses and critical services, such as schools and clinics, into darkness. AfriForum maintains that outdated infrastructure, poor management, ongoing cable theft and the sabotage of infrastructure can be cited as reasons for the disruptive fires and explosions at substations and that AfriForum has an important role to play in the interests of the Metro’s residents, especially with regard to the safeguarding of substations.
AfriForum and the Tshwane Metro signed an MOU on 1 March last year, after which the Municipal Manager sent a formal letter of approval for the security project of the Garsfontein substation to AfriForum on 3 October.
Regardless of this approval and agreement, municipal officials have, on the instruction of a regional head in the Metro, allegedly refused AfriForum’s operational team access to the Garsfontein substation at the last minute. According to AfriForum, this action amounts to a blatant and unilateral violation of the MOU and undermines the Metro’s constitutional duty to promote cooperation with community organisations.
“Pretoria’s residents are fed up. Each day without electricity is not only inconvenient – it indicates a loss of income, security issues and a loss of confidence in the management of local government affairs. AfriForum recognises the reality, and therefore we have stepped in at our own expense and with our own capacity to offer solutions. The fact that the Metro is deliberately blocking this help is unacceptable,” says Arno Roodt, AfriForum’s District Coordinator for Pretoria South. “The refusal of access for this security project is not just a coincidence but the symptom of years of mismanagement, criminality and the Metro’s hostile attitude towards community organisations.”
The safety project for safeguarding substations against sabotage and cable theft includes, among other things, advanced camera technology, artificial intelligence analysis and an armed response component. The security of the Garsfontein substation was earmarked as a pilot project, but the Metro’s bureaucratic red tape is now threatening the initiative as a whole.
In addition to the demands that AfriForum has made to the Metro, the civil rights organisation also submitted a formal application yesterday (21 May) to the Metro under the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) for full access to the Metro’s substation list, maintenance schedules, contractor list and maintenance reports. Roodt maintains that the organisation is taking this step to hold the Metro accountable for the maintenance of this critical infrastructure in the interest of the city’s residents. Should the Metro fail to provide the information to AfriForum, of fail to heed to their demands, the organisation is ready to take legal action against the Metro.
“We are ready to fight the energy crisis. The question, however, is whether the Tshwane Metro will be a partner in progress or an obstacle on the road to recovery,” concludes Roodt.
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