Eskom has threatened court action against some North West Municipalities who owed the power utility R5 billion for electricity it sold on its behalf and warn that the debt may hamper its ability to keep lights on in the province.
At a meeting convened by the province’s local government department in Mahikeng on Tuesday it transpired that the non paying municipalities include Rustenburg, Naledi, Kgetlengrievier and Matlosana local municipalities,
Eskom’s North West Key Customer Relations Manager Sam Mosellela, said the power utility may in the future fail to provide electricity supply in the province if the debt is not paid.
“If you look at a municipality like Kgetlengrivier and Naledi local municipalities, those municipalities last paid us in January 2022. Do you still want us to provide electricity to such customers?
“We are here to ask for interventions, I have been in so many intervention programs with all the Premiers who have been in this province. Where everybody committed, but immediately when we left that meeting the debts kept growing.
“Eskom in the North West will soon shut down. I’m sure you are aware that Eskom has been unbundled. We are three independent businesses. And we are also buying electricity from transmissions.
“There will come a time when we will not be able to buy electricity to give to the provincial municipalities. And that is why, if our intervention process fails, we will have no choice but to go to court.
“And if the court rules against the municipalities. We will implement the necessary measures, even if it means attaching the bank accounts of the municipalities. We will do so,” Mosellela said.
The North West Department of Cooperative Governance MEC, Nono Maloyi, said the government is trying to make payment arrangements with Eskom.
“We spoke to Eskom two weeks ago, we also had that discussion this morning when we were in talks about the urgent Matlosana matter. Eskom has won a court case against the Matlosana local municipality. And Eskom was threatening that they are going to execute the court order by freezing the municipality’s bank account, in order to recover their money. It owes Eskom more than R1.5 billion.
“In those discussions, we have agreed with Eskom that the municipalities must pay their current accounts. We will then work with the municipalities and Eskom will develop a payment plan for the arrears. The payment plan for Matlosana is ready, we just have to discuss it with Eskom,” Maloyi said.
He said he also called on the provincial departments who owe the municipalities to pay their debts to enable them to pay Eskom.
“The government departments also owe municipalities millions of rands. They must pay those municipalities in order for them to pay Eskom. I’m currently working with the finance MEC, Motlalepula Rosho to make sure that by the end of the week, the provincial government departments will have paid the municipalities,” he said.
