Mine to improve electricity supply network
Victor Mulangisi
A tripartite meeting, involving Ga-Segonyana local municipality, Assmang Black Rock and contractors, namely Kuyanda Electrical, Prof Kon and Thusano, was held on February 05, 2021 at Leach Lodge along Seodin Road to strategise on how to come up with a comprehensive electricity infrastructure repair project.
The multimillion-rand project funded by the Assmang Black Rock mine is seen as a true example of private public partnership at its best.
The scope of this project is to repair and replace obsolete equipment from the smallest component to the most colossal one, seen as an impediment to the smooth supply of electricity to the entirety of the Ga-Segonyana local municipality from business to residence.
A team of contractors to run the important project has been identified and is in consultation with the host municipality that is interested in making a thorough assessment or survey of the electricity supply system for prioritisation. Through this inspection by the contractors and the municipal team, only then shall prioritization be determined.
The project begins emphatically from March to June 2021. As a result, consumers, businesses and residents shall be notified of the impending blackouts from one area to another through various media channels where social media could also be used.
A glimpse of what the project entails in the practical sense, is repair and replacement where necessary, the substation and consumer substation, mini subs and transformers, drop out fuses, and surge arrestors, bundle conductors, MV overhead conductors and lines, MV and LV poles, rings on MV cables and overhead lines, water pump programming for automatic start on emergencies, streetlights and pole top boxes.
The municipality already has some of the equipment required in the exercise, however, the contractors’ inspection will have the final verdict to ensure smooth supply of electricity in the town.
Trees in the two-metre radius of live wires shall be trimmed. A call for residents to cooperate during the exercise of cutting the undesirable trees in their premises is of great importance.
The municipality welcomes this project that seeks to render fluidity in the supply of electricity in this fast-growing mining town. Assmang Black Rock’s mine representative, the SED Superintendent Ms Tebogo Ntekang, said that the project is aimed at further strengthening the good relationship that exists between the local municipality and the mine. The municipality was represented by the Technical Director Mr Hendrik Smit, the Electrical Superintendent Mr Lucas Mayela and the Electricity Manager Mr Bonolo Kgosieng. Chairing the decisive meeting was Mr Whitey Thomas from Kuyanda Electrical.
