Pretoria - Eskom was yesterday yet to explain the rationale behind publicly singling out the DA-led Tshwane metro’s R1.6 billion debt, despite the fact that it was not the only Gauteng municipality in financial trouble with the power utility.
Two months ago when the parastatal published a media statement on Tshwane’s financial woes, there were at least eight municipalities with outstanding debt for bulk power supply, and the metro was not the worst debtor as of July 20, 2022.
The embattled Emfuleni Local Municipality, which has been struggling to meet its financial obligations to Eskom for years, had its unsettled debt standing at R5 billion, making it the worst debtor by far.
In February, Emfuleni’s debt had grown from R614 million in March 2018 to R4.4 billion, according to Eskom at the time.
The power utility had at some stage threatened to attach Emfuleni’s bank account in a bid to recover its money.
The information regarding municipal debt to Eskom as a result of non-payment of accounts was highlighted by Gauteng Finance and e-Government MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko in written responses to questions asked at the legislature.
In a correspondence dated September 5, 2022, Nkomo-Ralehoko was asked how much has the debt to Eskom increased by each municipality between March and July 2022.
“The aggregated total outstanding debt owed by Gauteng municipalities to Eskom, increased by R1.648 billion between April 13, 2022 and July 20, 2022,” she said.
Part of her answer was based on Eskom information, which showed the financial debt of each municipality.
According to the information, Emfuleni appeared to be the worst debtor, while Midvaal Municipality didn’t owe Eskom.
Last week, Eskom threatened to plunge Tshwane residents into darkness by disconnecting power supply to the metro following empty promises to settle its outstanding R1.6 billion debt.
The power utility said it rejected the proposed payment arrangement by Tshwane. In a media statement, the entity said Tshwane had to date paid R448 million after failing to settle its electricity account which was payable on August 17.
On Monday, Tshwane mayor Randall Williams said the metro had “seen unnecessary media statements and commentary by Eskom on our current bill”.
Last week, Sakeliga sent a letter of demand to Eskom indicating that any attempt to cease the supply of electricity to the metro will lead to urgent litigation.
“Sakeliga’s letter follows repeated threats in recent days by Eskom that it might cut all electricity supply to Tshwane because of the metropolitan government’s overdue debt.
“The threat by Eskom includes ceasing electricity provision to paying businesspeople and other users. Sakeliga supports legal and rational debt recovery by Eskom, not such wholesale threats that are both illegal and irrational,” the organisation said in a media statement.
Asked how frequently has the department engaged with the National Energy Crisis Committee, Nkomo-Ralehoko said: “The department never had any engagements with the National Energy Crisis Committee.”
She didn’t answer a question regarding the assistance provided by the committee to each municipality in Gauteng.
Asked for comment yesterday, Eskom said “please note that we are still working on the responses to your query and hereby request an extension to tomorrow (today)”.
Pretoria News