The municipality issued a notice on Tuesday afternoon, saying Eskom had again threatened to cut our electricity supply due to the municipality’s non-payment. “Last Friday, 25 June 2021, the municipality received a notice of disconnection letter from Eskom due to non-payment of the account. The municipality is struggling to pay the Eskom account in full because of the low payment rate for municipal services in the townships and the increasing number of meters that have been tampered with,” the municipal spokesperson said.
The municipality says its historic Eskom debt has increased to more than R650 million, while the historic debt to Rand Water has increased to more than R130 million.
The total debt owed to the municipality by non-paying residents is over R3.3 billion.
The number of household meters that have been tampered with has increased to more than 16,000.
According to the municipality, it will now cut off the electricity supply to the low-paying areas of Khutsong, Kokosi, Wedela and Blybank from 08:00 to 12:00 and then again from 17:00 until 22:00 on various days. The water supply to the same areas will also be cut from 21:00 to 05:00 from Mondays to Fridays. “Residents in low-paying areas must pay if they want to prevent Eskom from disconnecting us. We are still negotiating with Eskom,” the spokesperson told the Herald.
The last time Eskom threatened to disconnect Merafong was in February 2020.
