History was made last week when Collins Chabane Municipality received a draft licence from the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) to distribute electricity. The Vhembe-based municipality will be allowed to generate power from solar plants and sell it to certain communities.
In the Vhembe District, only the Makhado and Musina municipalities are currently registered to redistribute electricity. Both buy power in bulk from Eskom and resell it through their own infrastructure. The profit from redistribution makes up a significant portion of their income.
Collins Chabane Mayor Shadrack Maluleke described the licence as a historic breakthrough. "We are the first municipality to be granted such a licence since the dawn of democracy," he said.
Maluleke explained that the licence differs from those of Makhado and Musina in that it only allows Collins Chabane to sell electricity it generates through its own solar plants. Three pilot areas have been identified: Nkuzana, Malamulele D and Mavambe View. "We will build our solar plants, but we will still partner with Eskom. We have already identified an area in Malamulele where a plant will be constructed," he said.
He added that, depending on the success of the pilot projects, the initiative would be rolled out to other areas.
To allay fears that electricity costs could rise, Maluleke said residents would benefit from the initiative. "We are in the process of engaging COGHSTA with a view to establishing a fully fledged department of electrical services that will have a portfolio head and a senior manager with a full staff component. This goes to show how serious we are in making electricity more affordable to our residents," he said.
Maluleke also said the municipality planned to strike deals with major retail groups to sell electricity, and later extend the service to small businesses in villages, so residents would no longer need to travel long distances to buy electricity.