After Eskom’s suspension of the interruption of the electricity supply to Msukaligwa and eMalahleni local municipalities last week, Mpumalanga Premier David Mabuza has dismissed some of the proposed repayment arrangements.
Mr Mabuza termed the agreements between the municipalities and Eskom as unsustainable “quick-fix” plans.
At a meeting in Mbombela attended by Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Mr Des Van Rooyen, Eskom management as and officials from the two municipalities last Wednesday, Mr Mabuza said he did not agree with some of the agreements and would not stand surety to step in if the municipalities reneged on their commitments.
Some of the proposed payment plans include using the municipal equitable share of revenue from National Treasury and selling some of their properties in an effort to raise money to pay the debt.
The Premier said the equitable share was not meant to settle the Eskom bill only, but also to deal with administration as well as other basic and community services.
“I want sustainable solutions. We must introduce a culture of paying for services and improve our billing systems as well as our revenue collection,” he said.
He said municipalities could not afford to sell land which they would probably buy back at an expensive price at a later stage for human settlement.
The Premier was also concerned that there had been so many of these agreements that he had lost count of how often these municipalities had defaulted.
“I don’t trust them with regards to settling the Eskom debt,” said Mr Mabuza.
He added that he had spoken to the municipalities about the Eskom debt before they went to their different councils after the elections, yet a few months later the same problem had to be faced.
According to the Premier, the municipalities did not have the capacity to sell electricity and to collect revenue.
“Municipalities should settle the debt and consider handing back to Eskom the function of selling electricity,” he said.
Other proposals the municipalities made to Eskom include reducing tariff options, decreasing interest rates on overdue balances. and changing the payment period from 15 to 30 days.
Mr Van Rooyen thanked Eskom for agreeing in principle to consider the issues raised by the municipalities.
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