Keetmanshoop Municipality Mayor, McDonald Hanse said the council has already taken a decision to join the Southern Regional Electricity Distribution (SORED) company despite the community’s plea not to do so, fearing high electricity tariffs.
Hanse’s response follows a recent protest by the residents at the town, who cited that they were not consulted in the initial process that led to the establishment of the company, as the first stakeholders and end-users of electricity.
However, Hanse in an interview with Nampa recently said the decision to do so, follows a Cabinet decision that approved the establishment of Regional Electricity Distributors (REDs) in November 2000 on recommendations of the Ministry of Mines and Energy.
He said the decision to establish the REDs is to limit electricity distribution licenses and improve efficiency, service delivery and viability of the industry.
According to the mayor, for the last six years or so the Shareholders Agreement was with the Attorney-General’s office and was only approved in January this year.
“It must be clear that this council is not the one who started SORED but we need to stand by the decision of our central government,” said Hanse.
He however gave assurance that SORED will bring efficiency in the sector and consumers will pay reasonable and cost-effective tariffs that offer sustainability and ensure uninterrupted electrical supply.
“We have made some minor changes on the agreement, so we wait on the Attorney-General to approve that, before SORED starts operation. We will guard by all means not to disadvantage the end-users,” he added.
The shareholders of SORED will be the local authorities and regional councils in the Hardap and ||Kharas Regions, however NamPower will not be part of the shareholders as in all other REDs, according to the mayor.
The decision to exclude NamPower was taken at the Electrical Distribution Industry (EDI) Summit held in 2014, he said.
In 2001, the Keetmanshoop Municipality contracted the Southern Electricity Company (SELCo) and in 2016 after 15 years with the South African company, the municipality decided not to renew their contract following demands from the residents who cited that they had enough of high electricity tariffs imposed by SELCo while profits made by the company go to South Africa.
This was followed by the establishment of the Keetmanshoop Electricity Business Unit (KEBU) in 2017, that has been handling the distribution of electricity at the southern town and since then KEBU managed to pay off about N.dollars 15 million owed to NamPower by SELCo.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency