In a press release by the DA, this party’s constituency head for Merafong, Ms Ina Cilliers, indicates that the municipality has been falling behind on its repayment to Eskom since August.
The current arrears amount is R85.25. By defaulting on its payment plan, there is certainly justification for the MEC to dissolve the council in terms of 139(4) of the Constitution.
According to the DA, Merafong only paid R3 million to Eskom on 6 November.
‘On Thursday, Council resolved to implement block disconnections and load-shedding and water throttling in an attempt to reduce the bulk utility accounts,’ Cilliers said.
Despite this, Eskom’s spokesperson, Mr Khulu Phasiwe, told the Herald on Monday that Eskom has no plans to cut Merafong’s electricity.
‘We are not cutting the electricity of any municipalities in Gauteng at the moment. We would never cut a municipality’s electricity for such a small amount anyway,’ he said.
He added that Emfuleni is the only municipality in Gauteng that is currently in serious trouble with Eskom over non-payment.
However, large businesses in this municipality got a court order prohibiting Eskom from cutting their electricity last week.
They argued that it is the municipality and not the businesses themselves that has continually defaulted.
These businesses now pay Eskom directly.
Phasiwe said ordinary homeowners could not make the same arrangement, however, as the municipality owns the infrastructure for the electricity supply to their houses.
This also makes it impossible for Eskom to bill the homeowners individually.
