F State councils owe Eskom R9.8bn

A number of Free State municipalities will today again be in the spotlight over escalating debt to Eskom when parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) is expected to adopt its oversight report following a site visit to Eskom.

The Free State has the highest number of defaulting municipalities and the highest debt by province to Eskom. They collectively owe over R9.8 billion.

MEC for finance Gadija Brown confirmed last month that the state of municipalities in the province is a great concern as they are battling to pay billions owed to service providers.

She said municipalities in the province continue to regress on audit outcomes, as reported by the auditor-general, and that their Eskom debt had escalated from R7.8 billion to more than R9.8 billion, with Maluti-A-Phofung alone owing nearly R4 billion.

She listed Letsemeng, Masilonyana, Tokologo, Ngwathe, Mafube and Mohokare as municipalities needing recovery plans.

None of the Free State municipalities obtained a clean audit in the last fiscal year and those currently under administration, namely the Maluti-A-Phofung, Masilonyana and Mafube, were plunging into a deeper financial abyss, she said.

The report, focusing on Eskom and set to be adopted by Scopa today, is expected to depict the state-owned enterprise’s ailing state and how it can be rescued, as well as how municipalities plan to settle their debt to the power utility. – OFM News