The order provides that Astral, which gets its electricity from the Lekwa municipality in Standerton, will make payment to Eskom and bypass the defaulting municipality.
Lekwa agreed to this.
There is no time limit to this arrangement and Eskom has been ordered to pay Astral’s costs.
Astral is one of several applicants who earlier approached the court to have Eskom’s decision to disconnect the electricity supply to the Lekwa- and Brits-based Madibeng municipalities reviewed and set aside.
The parties in February obtained interdicts preventing Eskom from cutting the electricity supply. The main applications are currently being heard in the High Court in Pretoria.
Other applicants include Mediclinic Brits, tyre producer Bridgestone, Standerton Oil Mills and its holding company Cofco SA.
Astral CEO Chris Schutte told Moneyweb outside court on Wednesday that Eskom approached Astral with a settlement offer on Tuesday night. After some negotiations Astral accepted the offer and the agreement was made an order of the court on Wednesday morning.
Schutte said that if Eskom did indeed cut electricity supply to Lekwa, it would have meant that Astral, a fully paid-up customer, would be punished for the incompetency of Lekwa.
He said such a situation could have rendered the Astral operations at Standerton unsustainable. The closure of the plant would have meant the loss of the biggest employer in the area, he said.
