Eskom is threatening court action against 10 North West’s municipalities not paying their debt to the power utility estimated at R5.4 billion .
The Ramotshere Moiloa Local Municipality owes more than R100 million and is the latest municipality that Eskom is going after.
Eskom’s North West Customer Relations Manager, Ezekiel Baruti, said he can confirm that the Ramotshere Moiloa local municipality owes it R98 million in respect of the old debt.
“When we add this month’s bill, which is about R5 million, the whole amount comes to R103 million. We have currently received a payment arrangement proposal from the municipality on the 22 May, and we are currently considering the submission by the municipality.
“We have not yet reached a stage of attaching the account as we have not yet taken the municipality to court. We are still at the stage of trying to implement the Intergovernmental Relations Frameworks Act, and it is only after it has failed that we can consider other measures including litigation that might result in the attachment of the bank account.
“The total historical debt of all municipalities in the North West is R4.9 billion and when we add the current debt it becomes R5.4 billion. I have to emphasize that there is no particular municipality that we are targeting, we are currently engaging all municipalities that owe us.
“The matters that have advanced to the attachment stages of the bank accounts were already taken to court before December 2020. All new matters will now follow the Intergovernmental Relations Framework route,” Baruti said.
He said stricter controls have been imposed on big businesses to avoid debt accumulation.
“The big businesses who owe Eskom do not follow the Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act, meaning in a nutshell Eskom can disconnect them without following the route that municipalities take. The businesses that owe us are issued with a 14 days’ notice for them to pay, and failure to do so or to enter into any payment arrangement will result in Eskom disconnecting their points of supply,” he said.
The clampdown on municipalities comes as residents across the province endure prolonged blackouts, including those of the province’s capital city of Mahikeng.
