Kimberley – The Northern Cape MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs, Alvin Botes, on Thursday handed over a cheque for R2.9 million for the provision of electrical infrastructure for 38 houses being erected for military veterans in Lerato Park.
The cheque was presented to the contractor from Solethu Energy, Braham van Schalkwyk, who has also been tasked with relaying power cables in the area after these were stolen.
The 38 houses have been designated for military veterans from the Azanian People’s Liberation Army (Apla) and Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA), who will move in as soon as the electricity supply has been secured.
According to Botes, the electrical infrastructure was compromised in the area following the theft of the cables, leaving the entire area without electricity.
“It must have been an orchestrated cartel that removed the electrical cables from the area,” he said.
“It is easy to say the area was vandalised, but it would take an organised group of people to do this (remove the cables).”
Botes handed the cheque to the contractor to facilitate the start of the project.
He added that extra funds had also been allocated for the provision of security to prevent further acts of theft.
The regional manager of Solethu Energy, Thawmy Zulu, said that the company would provide temporary power during the construction process.
“We will be working on bringing the cables closer to the houses,” he said. “We will provide temporary power to the houses once we have secured the necessary equipment and machinery as well as the workforce. We hope to start as soon as possible.”
Van Schalkwyk added that it would take roughly seven to eight weeks for this equipment to arrive. He said that the remainder of the materials would take a bit longer, roughly 22 weeks, to arrive.
“We expect to start working in March, and it is hard to say when the entire process will be completed, including the permanent infrastructure we plan on putting into place once the temporary power is up and running.”
According to the MEC, each house is valued at around R190 000 and once the power cables have been installed the value of the house will increase to around R220 000.
“The houses will belong to the families of Apla and MKMVA and will not be taken away from them,” said Botes.
The provincial chairperson of the MKMVA, Edwin Martins, added that more houses for military veterans were scheduled to be built in the Province.