Eskom strikes fear into consumers
Residents in three towns in the Dr Beyers Naudé Municipality face a bleak November when Eskom’s “planned electricity interruption” schedule could see power cut to these towns for 14 hours a day.
On Tuesday 16 October, Eskom announced that it would be invoking credit control measures as per the bulk electricity supply agreements with three Eastern Cape municipalities, including the Dr Beyers Naudé Municipality.
Despite Eskom stating that they “always take into consideration the overall impact of the escalating municipal debt”, the individual consumer in Jansenville, Steytlerville and Willowmore will be severely affected by this action.
Starting on Tuesday 30 October, residents in these towns, as well as Middelburg in Inxuba Yethemba, will be without power for several hours every day. During the first week, the power will be off from Monday to Friday from 06:00 - 09:00 and from 17:00 20:30. On Saturday and Sunday, there will be no power from 08:30 – 12:00 and again from 15:00 – 19:00.
These interruptions will already cause serious disruption, but after the first week, consumers will be without electricity for 14 hours a day, from 06:00 – 20:00. Eskom also states in the notice that the 14-hour supply interruption will continue until full payment is received, or a payment agreement is reached. In response to a question from the Advertiser, Eskom spokesperson Zama Mpandwana stated that the process is guided by the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA) (Act 3 of 2000), and the closing date for submissions to avoid disruptions was on 9 October 2018. Notices published earlier in September invited affected municipalities to submit reasons why Eskom should not proceed with these power interruptions. After consideration of written submissions, the decision was made that the Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality had not reached a payment agreement with Eskom and thus would be one of the three municipalities in the Eastern Cape to be affected.
No satisfactory response has been received to the question of why those three towns, in particular, were chosen. “Towns to be interrupted include those supplied by the defaulting municipalities and there are no direct Eskom customers who will be affected,” said Mpandwana.
His response concluded with the comment that “Eskom reaffirms that implementation of bulk electricity supply interruptions to any municipality is implemented as a last resort after all other measures have failed”.
In the State of the Municipality report earlier this year, it was revealed that the total debt inherited by the Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality after the amalgamation of the former Camdeboo, Ikwezi and Baviaans, was R65.3 million. Of this, by far the biggest creditor was Eskom, who were owed over R30 million. By far the largest amount (almost R15.5 million) was owed by the former Ikwezi, with Camdeboo owing almost R11 million and Baviaans, just over R4 million. The municipality responded that it is aware of the notice of PAYA being implemented, but that, as to date, no formal communication with regards to the interruptions of the power supply has been received from Eskom. It acknowledges that the municipality has been experiencing financial difficulties since the establishment in August 2016.
“The municipality, in particular, is in arrears with the bulk electricity account and offered three payment arrangements, on different occasions, to Eskom but with no success. In a meeting held on 9 October 2018, the municipality discussed the following issues with Eskom in an effort to come to a suitable payment arrangement but this too was to no avail.”
The municipality would like all stakeholders to take note of the following discussions with Eskom:
The Jansenville supply point needs to be upgraded and Eskom requires a deposit payment of R2 450 000.
Due to the financial instability, the municipality is unable to pay this and interest on the amount accumulates.
Since the amalgamation of the three municipalities in August 2016, Eskom has been overcharging Steytlerville, Willowmore, Jansenville and Aberdeen. The estimated cost saving for the towns is 32 % for Steytlerville, 27% for Willowmore, 29.5 % for Aberdeen and 28.19% for Jansenville. Eskom confirmed this and on 12 October 2018 the municipality instructed them to convert the tariffs. Eskom should be held accountable and reimburse the municipality for the incorrect tariffs.
The municipality has been selling electricity to Eskom areas from 1995 and no credits were received from them. In March 2018 the municipality entered into a wheeling agreement and in August 2018 only one month’s credit was received and in September 2018 three months.
The municipality is of the view that Eskom should credit them for all the previous years they did not receive payment for distributing electricity to their areas or from date of amalgamation at least. If the above is considered in its entirety, the debt of the municipality at Eskom will decrease by a considerable amount. The municipality will also embark on a cost- of- supply study before the application of the next tariff increase. Further to this, the municipality would like to assure the community that they are considering all avenues to withhold Eskom from making the planned interruptions of the supply of electricity and they will discuss it with other stakeholders i.e. SALGA, COGTA and the district municipality. Also, the municipality will in due course communicate the status with Eskom to the community.