Promise date: 22 November 2021
Due date: 22 February 2022
Source: Acceptance speech
Promise outcome: Kept
One of the first promises Tania Campbell made after being elected as the executive mayor of Ekurhuleni was to tackle the city’s electricity problems.
“We will immediately start the process of fixing the electricity problems that seem so endlessly to plague our city …” she said in an acceptance speech on 22 November.
Campbell’s spokesperson, Phakamile Mbengashe, says the problems Campbell was referring to are planned and unplanned outages. According to the mayor, these are caused by “Eskom’s inability to provide sufficient energy supply, and ageing infrastructure in the city”.
What has the mayor done to keep her promise?
She held a strategic session, says Mbengashe, and the multiparty coalition resolved to:
- Request a status report on electrical stock in stores (during the same November speech, Campbell said there must be an end to “not having enough supplies in the store rooms to replace simple electricity infrastructures”);
- Determine if a solar energy plan for rental property and council buildings is feasible;
- Speed up Independent Power Producers’ supply of renewable energy to the grid; and
- Decrease the city’s reliance on Eskom.
Mbengashe says the mayor will say more during the state of the city address, scheduled for 30 March.
Verdict
We rate this promise as kept because Campbell did start the process of fixing the city’s electricity promises by the promise due date.
– Track My Mayor
Track My Mayor is a promise tracker aimed at increasing accountability at local government level. It was established with support from Code for Africa’s