Lights to stay on in Free State after agreement with Eskom

Eskom announced yesterday it had suspended its plan to cut power to the Mangaung, formerly Bloemfontein, metropolitan municipality.

This followed talks with Free State MEC for cooperative governance and traditional affairs Skully Thembeni Nxangisa on Thursday and a meeting yesterday, in which Eskom and power distribution company Centlec reached a payment agreement.

“Therefore, we will not be continuing with planned interruptions,” the power utility said.

The power cuts would have impacted Bloemfontein, Botshabelo, Thaba Nchu, Dewetsdorp, Wepener and Vanstadensrus.

They would have been without power from 6am to 8pm each day, with the attendant socioeconomic impact.

Eskom reported that invoiced municipal arrears debt had increased by R5.2 billion since March 2019 to R25.1 billion, with only 78% of municipalities paying their bills – down from 93% four years ago.

Eskom’s financial results also showed there was only a payment level of 44% for the top 20 defaulters.

Soweto’s invoiced small-power user debt arrears (including interest) was reduced to R16.1 billion (March 2019: R18 billion) after interest of R3.6 billion was written off.

Municipalities in the Free State collectively owed Eskom more than R9.8 billion – including the infamous Maluti-a-Phofung, which alone owes Eskom nearly R4 billion. The municipalities are also in the red with their water boards.

Eskom said Mangaung owed it more than R170 million, while Mafube owed R52 million and Mantsopa R205 million.