• Our History

    Witbank was established in 1890 and early attempts to exploit the coal deposits failed until the railway from Pretoria reached the area in 1894. It was proclaimed a town in 1903 and became a municipality in 1914. Despite attempts by governing bodies to establish the use of the name, eMalahleni, for the city as well as for the district, locals still tend to call the city by its original name.

    Main Street
     

  • Name Change

    On 3 March 2006,Witbank was officially renamed eMalahleni, meaning "place of coal" matching the name of the municipality that contains it. A large number of signs to the town have already changed, but many still remain. In general the name hasn't caught on as well as some other towns in South Africa (such as Centurion or Polokwane) possibly because it was renamed later on or because the new name is very different to the original name. Some landmarks bearing the name Witbank have remained.

    1st National
     

  • Economy

    Witbank is in a coal mining area with more than 22 collieries in the municipal radius. There are a number of power stations (such as the Duvha Power Station), as well as a steel mill (Evraz Highveld Steel and Vanadium Limited) nearby which all require coal. The farm land surrounding Witbank is fast being bought by investors, coal mining companies and real estate developers to accommodate the rapid growth of the city which is good for local businesses and residents.

    Station
     

  • Communities

    To the east of the city, two large communities, Vosman and Kwa-Guqa (“the Place of Kneeling” in Zulu), and two smaller communities, Ackerville and Schoongesicht, are home to approximately 440,000 (in 2005) residents, predominantly black. While many of these residents aspire to relocate to the more spacious suburbs around the city center, generally this has only been affordable to a few thousand, due to the prices of the suburban real estate. A community on the northwest side has been established at Pine Ridge, consisting predominantly of Indian residents.

    Shops
     
“Striving together to be an excellent centre for service delivery”

INTERRUPTION OF WATER SUPLY IN EMALAHLENI (EMALAHLENI & EXTENTIONS)

The raw water supply line delivering raw water from Witbank Dam to Witbank Water Purificatiob Works is leakingand it will effect the quantity of raw water entering the works. The leakage took place on the 8th of may 2013 and emergency work is taking place with the assistance of Rand Water. As a result the estimation of the work is expected to take two days but the water supply of water will be reinstated within 12 Days (22 May 2013)

The water tankers will only be provided for schools, hospitals, day care centres, clinics and emergency cases.

read more

Water Shutdown in Ogies and Phola on the 17th April

There will be a water supply interuption affecting all Emalahleni Local Municipality subarbs and location excluding Ga-Nala...

read more

 

Old Fire Station vs New Fire Station

For the first time in the history of Emalahleni (Witbank) the city became the proud owner of a Fire Station complex on 23 May 2012, build in accordance of the standards for fire station buildings.

For many years the fire services was accommodated at the waterworks premises in Woltemade street. The “fire station (building) consisted of a standard 3 room house.” One room was used for the control room and the other two rooms as offices. At the end of 1991 an additional building consisting of @ rooms and a filing room was allocated to the fire services.

No rest room of dining room facilities was available. (Keeping in mind that the fire fighters rendering a 24hr/7 days service). During tea breaks fire fighters was sitting under the open roof machine bay shed or inside a fire engine “enjoying” their tea. The premises also did not have a proper training facility for firefighting training.

Fire equipment was stored at the traffic section in a small storeroom. This situation has caused operational difficulties for the service as equipment urgently needed, has to be collected at the traffic buildings.

The financial budget of the fire services at that time did not allowed additions to the existing building by outside contractors. During 1992 fire fighters decided that something has to be done to have equipment immediately available for emergencies when needed.

Bricks and building material were obtained and all fire fighters, even those during their off duty time joined together and erected a 40m squared store room adjacent to the existing fire station building.

All fire engine and rescue equipment worth R8 million + rand were stationed under an open roof shed and were exposed to bad weather conditions and theft. During cold winter seasons and at night time the vehicle were difficult to start which caused a delay in the reaction time of the fire services.

During rainy seasons these vehicles, although stationed under an open roof shed, were also exposed to rain and hail, especially when associated with strong winds. The poor work environment did cause serious influence on the fire fighters moral.

Married personnel were accommodated in 7 houses, some of them 250 meters away from the “fire station”, and 2 houses used as standby quarters for single personnel.

During night time, personnel on duty have to run all way (250 meters) to the “fire station” when needed for an emergency in order to be in time of the standard approved night time turn out 3-5 minutes. This situation did have caused a serious effect on the efficiency of the emergency services.

The newly build fire station at the c/o OR Tambo and Beatty street has opened a “New World” for fire fighters of Emalahleni. Vehicles are accommodated inside an enclosed machine bay where it is protected against poor weather conditions; equipments are protected, and on duty personnel are accommodated on the premises of the fire station which will resulted in compliance to the turnout time 1 min during daytime and 3 minutes during night time for emergencies.

Training facilities are provided (drill tower, proper lecture hall and training ground) for fire fighters to develop their skills in fire fighting procedures in order to render a more effective service to the community. The accommodation of the control room at the new fire station will also have a positive effect on the turnaround time of the fire services.
The management and fire fighters of Emalahleni Emergency Services wants to convey their thanks to the Xstrata mining group and Nkangala District Municipality for this state of art building and facilities. 

JOIN US to manage the electrical load

Home-owners in Duvha Park, Duvha Park x2, Tasbet Park, Reyno Ridge, Bankenveld, Reyno Estates, Reyno Heights, Benfleur, Del Judor, Witbank extensions, Fransville, Model Park, Seekoeiwater, Die Heuwel, Ivory Hill, Cambridge, Highveld Park, Hoëveldpark, Blancheville, Jackaroo Park, Clearwater Estates, Pine Ridge, Schoongezicht, Ferrobank, Ackerville, Van Delenweg, Lynnville and Thushanang are requested to join hands with the eMalahleni Local Municipality and Eskom to help manage the electricity demand – by participating in a programme aimed at installing geyser control units connected to the geysers in their homes. The control units will be installed at no cost to the home-owners.

This Residential Load Management (RLM) project forms part of the eMalahleni Local Municipality’s demand management initiative in the region. It involves the connection of control units to geysers, making it possible to switch them on and off remotely without impacting negatively on the hot water usage. It allows the municipality to manage the demand for electricity specifically during evening peak periods.

Geysers account for between 30% and 50% of the electricity consumption in a household, making them an ideal starting point for electricity demand management in the residential sector. The main advantage of the load management system is that the relay system can switch the heating element off during times when the electricity load needs to be reduced. However, it is important to note that interruption of supply can be done while still providing hot water to a household due to the heat retention properties of a geyser.

The RLM project in eMalahleni will be implemented as follows:

  • A small appliance control device (or relay) is installed in the home of the customer.
  • This device then switches off the power supply to the geyser during the evening peak demand period between 18:00 and 20:00.

Qualified technicians, with eMalahleni Local Municipality, Eskom and Yaetsho identification cards, will visit homes in high-consumption areas to install the units between 1 October 2012 and 30 June 2013. Home-owners are requested to only allow contractors with the necessary identification cards to enter their homes.
CLIENTS ARE REQUESTED TO QUOTE THEIR MUNICIPAL ACCOUNT NUMBER IN ALL CORRESPONDENCES/PHONE CALLS.  THIS IS SOLELY FOR IDENTIFICATION PURPOSES.

For further information, please phone the RLM project office on (013) 656 0818


Thanks for the service i recieved today, i was finnaly able to put my worries to an end, my electricity bill was such a concern, but thanks to your friendly staff we where able to fix the situation...–Judith

Pretty impressed with the customer service from eMalahleni Local Municipality. I have rarely seen such after hours customer service. ...–DAVID

Thanks for sending one of your members to our area to rectify the problem that we where experiencing with regards to our water. At least now we are able to get water from our tap...–william

Many thanks to all from the Municipality who was involved in helping our elders with a donation to the fund, we really needed your help and cannot thank you enough.–Bernice