The distribution agency agreement DAA alone will not solve the electricity distribution crisis engulfing municipalities, the South African Local Government Association SALGA has cautioned. Addressing the Portfolio Committee on Electricity and Energy last Friday, SALGA Free State Executive Committee Member Kenalemang Phukuntsi outlined the structural and operational failures gripping South Africas electricity distribution industry EDI.
Phukuntsi described a system buckling under ageing infrastructure, rising operational costs, collapsing revenues, rampant vandalism and theft, widening skills shortages, loss of institutional memory, poor asset management, outdated technologies, fragmented service delivery, a weak regulatory environment and deep socio-economic pressures far beyond municipal control.
She reminded the committee that electricity remains municipalities single largest revenue stream, contributing 26 of local government income R60 billion of the R233,6 billion collected in the first half of 2023.