Municipalities default on Eskom bills despite intervention

17 January 2017

Cape Town – Despite a number of government interventions in 2016, municipalities owing money to Eskom still defaulted on electricity bills, the Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) department said on Tuesday.

After Cogta brokered agreements with Eskom, plans were put in place to get the municipalities to repay their debt, the department said in a statement.

Cogta held talks with all the affected municipalities between February and April last year and payment agreements were reached. Despite this, the municipalities continued to default.

On Sunday Eskom suspended power to five municipalities which, along with three others, owed the power utility R10.2bn.

After civil rights group Afriforum’s failed court bid to stop Eskom from cutting the electricity supply, Cogta again held talks with Eskom.

It was agreed that the respective provincial governments should be appraised ahead of a January 16 deadline.

Since then, Eskom said money had been received and payment plans agreed on with the Nketoana, Nala, Tokologo, and Mantsopa municipalities in the Free State, and the Walter Sisulu municipality in the Eastern Cape.

Cogta said the municipalities were responsible for honouring their agreements entered with Eskom and other credit providers. The department said it was confident that the provincial governments and municipalities would respect the agreements.

This article first appeared on News24, see here.