East Cape councils owe R1.1bn
Eastern Cape municipalities owe power utility Eskom R1.1bn.
The biggest culprit is the Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality, which has overdue debt of R309m, followed by Walter Sisulu Local Municipality, which owes R222m.
The debt owed by municipalities has, in the past, led to Eskom cutting power to some errant payers.
Details of how much the municipalities owe Eskom are contained in a response from department of co-operative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) MEC Xolile Nqatha to questions submitted by DA MPL Vicky Knoetze.
In his response, he said: “On November 19 2019, [Nqatha] met with the top Eskom defaulters and an agreement was reached to have one-on-one meetings between municipalities and Cogta and a task team established to organise such engagements led by Cogta.
“Eskom has agreed to have a roadshow to all municipalities starting in December 2019 to discuss issues relating to billing disputes and possible solutions to deal with the debt.”
Nqatha said there was a payment arrangement in place between Eskom and Enoch Mgijima municipality, but it was not being adhered to.
“The Paja [Promotion of Administrative Justice Act] processes have been initiated, [and the] interruption date [of power] was to be confirmed after the court case of November 21.
“The action that can be taken by the municipality to prevent electricity supply interruption is the payment of R162,421,145 and the remaining R146,953,032 to be on negotiated settlement.”
Knoetze said the DA was concerned the defaulting municipalities would have their power supply cut as notices had already been issued.
“The DA believes that cutting the power to these municipalities will not put the monies owed in Eskom’s pockets — all it does is punish consumers who have already paid the municipalities for the electricity.”
Other municipalities that owe Eskom include:
● King Sabata Dalindyebo — R165.5m
● Raymond Mhlaba — R148m
● Inxuba Yethemba — R121.8m
● Dr Beyers Naude — R71m
● Makana — R44.9m
● Amahlathi — R8m
● Sundays River — R5.4m
● Great Kei — R3.3m
● Sakhisizwe — R1m.