Renewable energy and sustainable technologies were a focus at the last full Ndlambe council meeting. The administration was put under pressure to explain itself in two experimental projects – one under way but stalled and the other proposed. In the same meeting, opposition councillors reflected the resistance by solar power users to tariffs they consider unfair and illogical.
The fact that Ndlambe Municipality is considered to be a viable and credible host for innovative technologies cut no ice at the last full council meeting, where councilors interrogated a proposed trip to Germany next month by the municipal manager and infrastructure director. The occasion is the Germany launch of the European Union-funded project, Decire-Water, a circular (recycling) water management system. It is linked to the stalled Kenton Eco-Sun Village – a test project for sustainable living.
The request might have gone relatively smoothly, bar pertinent questions about the cost of the trip, and the status of the Eco-Sun Village project.
But DA caucus leader Sikhumbuzo Venene saying the request for even two officials to go was “making a mockery of this council” drove the phlegmatic municipal manager, Rolly Dumezweni, up his reaction register and the seasoned lawyer said, firmly, “I have nothing to benefit directly from this. I am going to represent the council. I am going there to account for the money we have spent that comes from Germany.”
“Tshini!” said the DA’s Nadine Haynes, who prides herself on being isiXhosa-literate. “Ndlambe being summoned to Germany to account for money being spent on a white elephant! It costs a lot of money to go to Germany but we can’t even find money to maintain our town’s water pumps. Where do we get the idea we can afford this?”
When a member of the ANC caucus proposed that the mayor, too, should be part of the delegation, the council chamber exploded
Things reached a climax when a shouting match across the council chamber between Venene and mayor Khululwa Ncamiso (the words “shut up!” featured a lot) threatened to disrupt proceedings.
Documents from organisers the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, that form part of the council agenda, indicate that the presence of both Dumezweni and infrastructure director Nolutando Vithi are required at the July 2-3 event.
The Kenton-on-Sea EcoSUN Green Village project comprises a multipurpose centre and 10 Innovative Steel Building Technology (ISBT) houses. ISBT is described by its proponents as a sustainable alternative to brick and mortar construction with environmental benefits.
It is on these 10 houses that the project has stalled. A May 2025 progress update (part of the agenda) on the Kenton-on-Sea EcoSUN Green Village reports that the National Home Builders Regisration Council (NHBRC) had halted the completion of the housing component of the project due to non-compliance issues identified with the appointed contractor.
“Additionally, the contractor’s license with Agrement South Africa, required for the Innovative Steel Building Technology, was revoked by the primary license holder.“
Kenton-on-Sea based PR councillor Phil Kani had earlier seized on this, wielding that part of the report in the fracas.
According to its website, Agrément South Africa (ASA) provides assurance that non-standardised construction related products or systems are fit for purpose and their mission is to support and promote integrated socio-economic development in SA as it relates to the construction industry.
It is a schedule 3A public entity under the Public Finance Management Act, i.e. a national public entity that is not a national government business enterprise but is funded to some degree by national government, therefore accountable to parliament.
Alongside ASA and councillors representing the Ndlambe community as a whole, Ndlambe Municipality has eight other partners to account to: the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Eastern Cape Department of Human Settlements, Department of Science, Technology and Innovation, Nelson Mandela University, University of Potsdam (Germany), the NHBRC and the Green Building Council.
The Ndlambe report continues: “In response, the municipality is actively engaging with the NHBRC to explore an amicable resolution that will allow the contractor to address the non-compliance issues and reinstate their certification with Agrement SA.”
The council meeting was preceded by an outside presentation on another sustainability solution that appears to align well with Ndlambe’s policies on the upgrading of informal settlements as key to solving housing shortages.
With former mayor Sipho Tandani as intermediary, a delegation from Germany presented a proposal for the electrification of informal settlements through off-grid and mini-grid solutions that they had implemented in challenging situations across the African continent. The home system could be installed in shacks to provide basic electricity to charge a cellphone and laptop and a wireless network.
Once the first 7000 units were installed in Ndlambe, the company intended to set up an assembly plant in Port Alfred that would employ 50 000 people and supply the product across southern Africa.
But without sufficient supporting material and prior briefing, councillors balked and discussions with the company and a smaller group of councillors and officials were put on hold until after the council meeting. Three hours later, the three senior company representatives were still waiting outside the door of the council chamber.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the scale, concerns of residents who had invested in expensive solar systems were raised.
DA caucus leader Venene said there was growing concern among residents and ratepayers around small-scale embedded generators (SSEGs) and domestic solar systems.
“Residents and business owners using these systems are saving electricity by having these systems installed; but they are not happy without how their useage is being calculated.”
The relative rates for time of use did not make sense.
“Councillors need assistance in understanding how these calculations were done, so we can explain to residents,” Venene said.
Other items In the packed agenda included:
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An across-the-board salary and wage increase of 5.01% for municipal employees effective from July 1;
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The ongoing water shortages and outages in Alexandria, including a presentation by the contractor who is upgrading the connection from the Cannon Rocks supply;
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A proposed new liquor bylaw;
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A request to change the zoning for a 20-year-old Kenton-on-Sea “albatross” – a site established to develop a retirement complex – into lighrt industrial, so that a commercial storage facility could be built;
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A policy on “house shops” that would, among other things, guide how their rates were charged: municipal manager Dumezweni requested councilors to not only consider spaza shops operating from township homes, but also suburban houses that were also used for home offices.
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This article was first published in Talk of the Town, June 12, 2025. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays.
