“The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

Winston Churchill

“You cannot expect victory and plan for defeat.”  – Joel Osteen

A recent widely shared WhatsApp post regarding about being prepared for a doomsday scenario of Eskom grid collapse and all that that will mean for everyday life as we know it, got me thinking about what could be done by scheme executives and residents in community schemes to be prepared should such an eventuality arise. The possibility of grid collapse would be due to Eskom not being able to keep the amount of electricity generated above a minimum level that is required to prevent a country-wide network collapse, especially with reducing electricity availability due to breakdowns at the power stations.

Municipalities countrywide are equally struggling with failing infrastructure in providing electricity, clean potable water, and sanitation disposal to their residents, seen most recently with the cholera outbreak in Tshwane because of poor water treatment systems, mis-spending and incompetent management. The latest department of water and sanitation report on water quality throughout South African municipalities has highlighted the availability of clean drinkable water supply and the treatment of sewer as a major issue in most of the municipalities.

It always pays in these precarious and uncertain times to be prepared for the unexpected and to think out the box as to what it will mean in being prepared for collapsing municipalities and the services they are meant to provide. We need to be able to plan for, face and adapt to the changing economic times, political uncertainty, social unrest, and the other forces of change that may impact on our lives.

Owners in community schemes should consider using whatever financial means they have or that may be available to them, to prepare their schemes for any eventuality of collapse of both electricity and water supply to their scheme. In terms of electricity this would mean finding a long-term solution to the ongoing power issues and load shedding using a solar PV solution with a battery storage system, and possibly back-up generators. This to ensure that at least the scheme’s access control and security systems remain operational 24/7, and that boundary walls and common areas have sufficient lighting to assist with security and safe access to the units.

Scheme executives and owners alike should also be investigating the installation of a filtered internal water system in their scheme utilizing large water storage tanks, pressure pumps, water filtration plant and where able the installation of boreholes to access underground water.

While such improvements would be considered necessary given the situation in which we find ourselves, and which will require a special resolution by owners to be approved, scheme executives should be proactive in researching such solutions so that they can be presented to owners for their consideration. This would include how such improvements could be funded using loans or special contributions levied on owners.

As leaders, scheme executives are facing the increasing need to be prepared and to adapt to the changing external circumstances that will affect their schemes. More importantly they need to be flexible as to the changing needs of the residents in the scheme that the failures of municipal services are causing and may affect the living conditions in their scheme. This may require the need to look at changes that may be required to the scheme’s conduct rules that will allow greater flexibility to minimize the impact of such failures on residents.

At Whitfields we endeavour to listen, care, and deliver, through the services we provide to the community schemes we manage. We undertake to provide informed, relevant, and updated information to the scheme executives on the applicable governing legislation for their scheme, and how it impacts the scheme where they are appointed. Additionally, we will provide them with the necessary direction and advice as to how they can best manage their schemes, and in doing so we will strive to we meet our client’s expectations in terms of the service we provide.

At times we may fail, but we will always try our best to do better and to improve. We have done so for the past 30 years and look forward to doing so into the future!