The City of Tshwane Municipality and Eskom have reached an agreement to settle the R6.67 historical debt owed to the entity.
Inherited debt from Eskom. Included R700 million in interests. This has placed immense strain on the city’s financial sustainability as it struggled to meet its current obligations to Eskom while trying to reduce the debt and pay interest.
This was revealed by Executive Mayor, Nasiphi Moya, during a media briefing about the City’s recovery progress in Pretoria.
Moya said the agreement, which was formalised as a court order on 26 November 2024, is a significant milestone in its journey to financial recovery and stability.
“Under the arrangement, we’ve agreed with Eskom that the debt of R6.67 billion, would be rein fenced and repaid over a five-year period. With the first payment of R400 million scheduled for December 2024, and the last payment in March 2029. Alongside the rein fencing of the historical debt, Eskom has also agreed to waive interests on this amount, as long as we maintain the payment of the current accounts, within 30 days of billing,” said Moya.
Moreover, the mayor highlighted that the city has already paid R425 million for arrears for October 2024.
The mayor revealed that the settlement was made possible, because of the municipality’s improved revenue collection efforts.
She warned that the revenue collection campaigns would not be compromised.
“To ensure that we continue to meet the obligation of the court, we would focus on revenue protection, to ensure that residents who are able to pay their accounts do so. This settlement signals a turning point, as it allows us to turn our focus towards improving service delivery and enhancing revenue collection systems,” explained Moya.
The mayor emphasised that her administration has committed to honouring this arrangement in full.
