The Portfolio Committee on Energy met today and received a briefing from the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) and the Department of Energy.
 
The department and SALGA briefed the Committee on the Integrated National Electrification Programme (INEP). Representatives from the department gave an overview of the implementation of the programme. INEP is the department’s programme aimed at achieving universal access to electrification in the country by 2025.
 
In its presentation, SALGA gave a progress report on INEP in relation to municipalities, identified key challenges and made proposals regarding INEP and raised issues that required urgent attention by the Committee. Responding to the presentations, members of the Committee had differing views about the briefing. SALGA was criticised for the manner in which it briefed the Committee. Members of the Committee said it seemed as if the SALGA briefing document was mainly about complaining about Eskom and making comparison between state-owned company and municipalities.
 
The Committee reminded SALGA of its role and mandate. The Committee said one of the entity’s objectives was to assist and develop the capacity of municipalities. Members of the Committee also lambasted the Department of Energy for not coming up with a master plan for the restructuring of the electrification industry.
 
In his concluding remarks, Chairperson of the Committee, Mr Fikile Majola, called on SALGA and Eskom to have good working relations. “Entities need to do their job, this includes Eskom, SALGA and the department, sitting where I am sitting what is important is how we can enhance cooperation between the various agencies so as to have effective service delivery,” said Mr Majola.