POLITICS

ANC-run Rand West City owes Eskom R137 millon – DA

Party says it is unclear if the municipality has made payment arrangement with power utility

ANC-run Rand West City owes Eskom R137 millon

31 May 2017

The ANC-run Rand West City is failing to pay for its bulk electricity purchases from Eskom on time according to its third quarter financial performance report.

An amount of R47-million is overdue for more than 60 days, while an amount of R66-million is overdue for more than 90 days, according to the report.

It is unclear if the municipality has made payment arrangements with Eskom, but failure to pay their electricity bill on time does a disservice to residents who purchase their electricity from the municipality.

Eskom has previously threatened to disconnect non-paying municipalities in an effort to recover outstanding money.

The ANC created the Rand West City municipality by merging Randfontien and Westonaria prior to last year’s local government elections, partly to ensure that the Randfontien municipality did not fall to a DA-led coalition, which appeared to be a possibility after a collapse in ANC support in the area during the 2014 elections.

It appears however that ANC financial mismanagement continues to rule the roost, and that the ANC provincial government’s insistence that it supports local municipalities to manage their own finances in the interests of its residents has not been successful.

By contrast, in the same report, the DA-run Midvaal local municipality demonstrated the DA difference, as Midvaal owes no money beyond 30 days to any bulk service provider.

By ensuring the lights stay on, Midvaal can continue to create jobs and deliver services to its residents.

The DA will ask Gauteng Finance MEC, Barbara Creecy, and Co-operative Governance MEC Paul Mashatile why their interventions have not been successful, and how, under their watch, some R113 million in fresh debt to Eskom from Rand West City has gone unpaid.

Issued by Ashor Sarupen, DA Gauteng Spokesperson on Finance, 31 May 2017