Eskom threatens to disconnect Zeerust for council’s debt

The troubled Ramotshere Moiloa local municipality in Zeerust, North West, faces threats of disconnection by Eskom for non-payment.

The town has been unable to come to an agreement with the power utility about its outstanding debt of R98 million.

Zeerust debt

In a letter sent to the council last month, Eskom said if payment arrangements were not made by 2 May, then power would be “disconnected without further notice”.

According to a source in the municipality, Eskom threatened to take over the financial accounts via a court order.

“Eskom has not yet disconnected Zeerust due to the ongoing discussions between them and the municipality. We have been owing Eskom for more than 10 years and the debt keeps rising,” the source said.

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Disconnection

In November, AfriForum went the High Court in Pretoria to challenge Eskom’s initial decision to disconnect the North West municipality.

“The decision of Eskom on 18 August, 2022 to interrupt the electricity supply to Ramotshere Moiloa local municipality is set aside,” the court order read.

Residents not happy

Marius Delport, 56, from Zeerust is not happy about the possibility of Eskom terminating services.

“I am paying my bills every month. It will not be fair for us to be punished for the municipality’s incompetence and incapacity,” Delport charged.

Blame game

The Democratic Alliance blamed the ANC for the municipality’s debt, “Years of financial mismanagement and cadre deployment compounded by the ANC factionalism has left the residents faced with the possibility of a bulk electricity disconnection from Eskom due to unpaid debt,” councillor Imaan Suliman said.

Ramotshere Moiloa local municipality acting municipal manager Ramojakgomo Mojapelo claimed this week that they have a payment plan and it will take three years to pay off the Eskom debt.

Load shedding

Meanwhile, Eskom said stage 5 load shedding will be implemented from 4pm on Friday afternoon until 5am on Saturday.

Thereafter, various stages of the rolling blackouts will be implemented over the weekend.

Eskom crisis communication manager Menzi Mngomezulu said the utility will publish another update if there are any significant changes.

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