After more than a week of literally being left in the dark, the electricity supply to the Makhado SAPS in Louis Trichardt was finally reconnected Wednesday morning (28/03).

The supply to the SAPS’ building in Krogh Street was cut by order of the landlord, due to the failure of the Public Works Department (PWD) to pay the building's rent for the past seven months.

Last week, Mr Russel Wolpe, one of the owners of the building, explained that the initial lease agreement between them and the PWD with regard to the building had already expired in August 2010. After trying in vain to get the PWD to commit to a new agreement, Wolpe said they then continued leasing the building to the police, without a contract, on a month-to-month basis until August 2011. Up to that stage, rent payments were made, but then payment stopped.

“Since September 2011, we have not received a single cent,” Wolpe said.  He added that he tried everything to resolve the matter with the PWD. “Everybody says they will do something, but nothing happens.”

Wolpe finally resorted to instructing a private electrician to disconnect the police’s electricity supply on 9 March, after a call from his attorneys a month earlier for the PWD to rectify the situation within seven days and start paying was again met with silence.

The police’s provincial spokesperson, Brig Hangwani Mulaudzi, refrained from answering questions relating to the issue of non-payment last week, referring all enquiries to the PWD as they are responsible for the account. When asked to comment on the situation at the station this week, Mulaudzi once again responded by referring all enquiries to the PWD.

Exactly a week after the initial media enquiry, the PWD finally responded with an explanation on Tuesday. They confirmed that the background leading up to the cutting of the electricity supply was correct, but opted to play the blaming game by shifting the responsibility onto the police.

“The National Department of Public Works did not receive the procurement instruction (PI) from the SAPS to renew the lease legally.  As a result, the department had been paying the landlord the rent on a month-to-month basis until November 2011. As we could not continue with the month-to-month arrangement, the rent fell into arrears,” said the PWD’s national director of media relations, Mr Thami Mchunu. 

Mchunu said that there was a process underway to try and resolve the situation with the SAPS as soon as possible. “The National Department of Public Works is in negotiations with the SAPS to issue the PI, so that we can do the work quickly,” Mchunu said.

Shortly before the electricity supply to the police’s building was reconnected on Wednesday morning, the Zoutpansberger contacted Wolpe once more. He said that he had spoken to a senior official at the PWD in Polokwane on Tuesday and that the official had assured him that payment would be made within seven working days.

“He told me ‘You can reconnect, the money will come’,” Wolpe said.

After this assurance, Wolpe said, he had instructed the electrician to reconnect the electricity supply. He warned, however, that should he not receive payment by 5 April, he would once again have the electricity supply disconnected.

“This is apparently the only way to do things … it’s really a shame,” Wolpe said.