Ten municipalities in Mpumalanga owe Eskom over R13bn

Ten municipalities in Mpumalanga owe Eskom R13.253 billion for services rendered, the power utility revealed in a statement on Thursday.

“Eskom supplies bulk electricity to its municipal customers, which is re-distributed and consumed. These municipalities receive government grants, as well as payment for services rendered from their customers. However, Eskom remains unpaid for the electricity consumed by these municipalities,” explained the power utility in a statement.

“This behaviour of not honouring account payments, threatens the security of supply to the citizens residing in these supply areas, as Eskom cannot continue to maintain its infrastructure and supply electricity for free.”

Municipality Arrear debt as at 31 March 2022:

• eMalahleni – R5 978 007,041
• Govan Mbeki – R2 897 941 285
• Lekwa – R1 535 860 478
• Thaba Chweu – R1 046 657 658
• City of Mbombela – R694 508 961
• Victor Khanye – R465 351 120
• Mkhondo – R316 546 859
• Msukaligwa – R153 719 572
• Dipaleseng – R101 144 506
• Emakhazeni – R64 002 110
  

The top four municipalities in debt, on average, account for 86% of the overdue debt in the province.

“Municipalities have a constitutional responsibility and duty, not only to Eskom but to their customers, to fulfil their financial obligations for the bulk supply of electricity so that Eskom can in turn meet their obligations,” said Mr Collin Reddy, General Manager, Distribution Division Mpumalanga.

“The total outstanding municipal debt of R13.253 billion in Mpumalanga continues to threaten Eskom’s commitment to ensure continuity of supply and the ability to maintain the network. The power utility would like to thank those municipalities in the province that prioritise their Eskom account payment.”

Gauteng municipalities owe Eskom R9.75bn in outstanding debt

The outstanding amount owed to Eskom by Gauteng’s municipalities increased from R9.49 billion to R9.75 billion as of 13 April 2022.

Gauteng Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) MEC Lebogang Maile revealed this on Monday, during a media briefing on the state of municipalities in the province on Monday.

The MEC said only three municipalities reported no overdue accounts. These were the City of Ekurhuleni as well as Lesedi and Midvaal local municipalities.

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Maile said the Merafong City Local Municipality in the West Rand continued to make payments on a weekly basis to address the outstanding debt owed to Eskom after proposing a new payment plan recently.

“Cogta in the province together with Gauteng provincial treasury, continues to engage Eskom for amicable solutions in dealing with the overdue debt owed by Gauteng municipalities,” he said.

Additional reporting by Thapelo Lekabe