Two hundred Ocean View families in Jeffreys Bay will be receiving electricity for the first time by February 2022.
Many of the families had been waiting to be connected to the electricity network for more than 10 years, but will finally be connected before the end of the financial year.
“They were promised electricity more than a decade ago, but this promise never came to fruition,” said Kouga Executive Mayor, Horatio Hendricks.
“This wrong has now been righted. We are excited that we have been able to improve the living conditions of these families.”
According to Hendricks, the project is estimated at a cost of over R800 000.
The switch-on will bring the number of households in Ocean View that have received electricity since August 2016 to 1 231 at a combined cost of over R11 million, while the new substation in the area was completed in July this year at a cost of R3 million.
According to Hendricks, the various electrification projects formed part of the municipality’s strategy to combat illegal electricity connections.
“Illegal electricity not only poses a danger to people, animals and property, it also overloads and damages the system, leading to widespread power outages,” he said.
“It is, furthermore, an important step towards eradicating informal areas and restoring dignity to communities.
“Electricity means much more than a light being switched on. It means the right to be able to do homework and study at night. It means a new opportunity to bring an end to poverty in the region.”
New street lights
The municipality, furthermore, erected eight new street lights at Tuney Street and Zena Street in Paradise Beach.
A new high mast light was installed at Golf Course in Humansdorp, while several street lights and three high mast lights in KwaNomzamo have been retrofitted with LED lights. This includes lights in Mtsila Street, Beda Street, and Umhlongane Street.
Some 69 houses at Golf Course will soon be connected to the electricity network. Four solar lights were also erected in Loerie.
