Johannesburg property industry individuals are up in arms over the basically non-existent supply of electricity to zoned land in particular areas. Despite the shortage of zoned land, construction industry role players are facing the added frustration of being told to wait two years for electricity supply to their developments.
The areas in question are mainly Weltevreden Park, Hyde Park, Bryanston and Ferndale. Wayne van de Werken, who works for a Johannesburg based construction company that builds sectional title office units, has reportedly had to turn down sites in these areas due to the lack of electricity supply. All these areas are the responsibility of City Power which supplies the greater Johannesburg metropolitan region.
City Power agents have informed van de Werken that in no way can electricity be made available to him in less than two years as they "don't have the capacity, they simply don't have electricity," says van de Werken. This situation has left people like him and land broker Keith Kleyn, of Stratprop in Johannesburg in an unfavourable situation as they are forced to put economy-boosting projects on hold.
Kleyn comments that he too has lost two potentially lucrative deals due to City Power's inability to supply his sites with electricity. "They say their sub-stations are full and they are waiting for electricity from Eskom," he adds.
Director of Leanne Reid Properties, Leanne Reid, also says she cannot apply for zoning due to electricity supply being non-existent. "We can't develop, which means we can't make money." She voices her concern on the situation turning for the worst, following the Eskom head's statement that "South Africans would be forced to save electricity until new power stations came online in 2010," in a Sunday paper recently.
Kleyn and van de Werken warn about the adverse effects such delays will have on the economy, "construction improves the economy and this is a massive problem" says van de Werken who believes the industry may face a crisis in two years time when electricity does become available and the demand for land is too high to be met satisfactorily. "The industry will be hit with a double whammy when electricity does become available" he says. Keith adds that these delays also mean the loss of many possible jobs on industrial sites.
A Johannesburg based consulting engineer, who wished to remain nameless for fear of causing conflict had much to say concerning City Power's services. His company is often appointed to asses the electricity load that will be required by new developments and apply for access either from City Power or Eskom, depending on the area.
The first problem they encounter is not knowing the relevant people to contact. "Nowadays I wish we knew where to apply, we don't know where to send our clients as they [City Power] don't have walk in centres. I've been working here for twenty five years and I still don't know who to call, this makes our clients think we're incompetent."
Anyone who calls City Power will be familiar with the run-around routine where enquiries are shifted from one person to the next but still with no results. Property24 has attempted several times over three days to contact a member of City Power's communications department for comment on these allegations with no success, instead we reach voicemail on both his office and mobile number. "You can't even get through to them on the phone, they don't seem to care," comments Kleyn while anonymous attests to this by saying "when you call they're always either out or in a meeting."
The anonymous source, whose identity is known to us, reports that his company and four other big name consulting companies have formed a forum and arranged a meeting with City Power "in order to help them because we understand their problem but communication with City Power is very bad." He says they have had several meetings with City Power and not had anything concrete emerge from them, he has also personally written a letter to someone in a high level position and not had a response or even an acknowledgement of receipt of his queries.
According to this source, two of City Power's biggest problems are firstly their lack of infrastructure in terms of substations and this is the cause of the delays as it takes years to develop capacity for power. Secondly he cites administrative inadequacy such as obstructed communication lines with the public as a chief aggravator.
City Power's inability to supply new developments with power and unsatisfactory communication with the aggrieved may be hampering foreign investment in Johannesburg as well. Our nameless source states that he has a Jewish client who has stopped developing in South Africa. He travels from Israel to invest in Johannesburg but faces resistance "when City Power says these are our rules," says anonymous. Potential investors bringing dollars, shekels, pounds as well as local contractors are hesitant to tender due to the many time consuming rules and speculations prescribed by City Power.
The general sentiment from industry figures is that City Power's woes are understood and that frustrations are only aggravated by the company's inability to effectively communicate with them. A clear solution is not yet in sight as City Power's unavailability to Property24 and the public has thrown key issues needing urgent attention further in the dark than before. - Ntokozo Maseko