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The Democratic Alliance has requested Dawid Kruiper municipality to establish a task team to pioneer the uptake of solar power to reduce energy dependence on Eskom.

As the solar power hub of South Africa, Dawid Kruiper should be leading the race to stave off loadshedding.

Yet in Dawid Kruiper, we face an electricity crisis upon electricity tariff crisis. Businesses are scaling down or closing down. The agriculture sector is on its knees. Irrigation farmers had a poor harvest due to the impact that loadshedding had on their ability to water their crops. Farmers in the Kalahari region experienced droughts and had to get rid of livestock because there was no water to sustain them.

Even the municipality is suffering as it cannot generate the required income from electricity sales to sustain service delivery.

In March, the DA tabled a motion asking for an investigation into the use of solar power to supplement generator power. The municipality agreed to our request, but nothing has been done to date.

Now, as stage 6 rolling blackouts again wreak havoc, the urgency of harnessing the benefits of alternative energy at a local level cannot be overstated.

DA-run municipalities are working around the clock to be able to generate enough power to exclude residents from rolling blackouts. In Dawid Kruiper, this same commitment is missing, despite the municipality sitting on some of the biggest renewable energy projects in the country and being in possession of an ideal piece of land at Klipkraal, for such a project.

It is time for Dawid Kruiper to create an environment that can sustain the local economy and agriculture and save lives and livelihoods. For this, a competent task team that should include experts in the renewable energy sector needs to be established to consider alternative energy options and, most importantly, to implement a plan of action that will resolve the energy crisis for the people of Upington.

Issued by Flip Van Der Steen, Cllr - DA Whip, Dawid Kruiper Municipality