Blackouts fear as Tshwane and Eskom clash over R800 million debt

While Eskom and the City of Tshwane bumped heads over irregular payments of debt of more than R800 million, residents fear blackouts and being bullied into paying the city’s debt.

There was no indication of the consequences should the city not pay Eskom after the power utility rejected an attempt to enter into a payment settlement arrangement.

City spokesperson Selby Bokaba said the debt came from unpaid bills. “The city will ensure full payment to Eskom by Thursday. It’s important that our customers pay their accounts in full and on time to enable us to pay our creditors,” he said.

He also did not want to comment on his tweet saying “electricity wasn’t consumed by the municipality, it was consumed by our consumers who should pay for it to enable us to pay Eskom”.

Bokaba said the city has communicated with Eskom and provided it with a payment plan for the debt. Eskom, however, rejected the city’s offer and said it had previously escalated the matter to the Tshwane executive mayor Randall Williams in January and June to recover the debt.

Moot resident Madelyn Seaborne said the city’s debt was ridiculous. “They put unskilled rogue people in posts who steal from the people and do not bring their side of the bargain,” she said.

Seaborne said the city should fire the employees who are corrupt. “Who can I hold accountable for my refrigerators, freezers and other electrical items that have broken down due to load shedding? Because my insurance does not cover it,” she said.

ALSO READ: Tshwane protesters demand to see mayor or else…

Pretoria North resident Cobie van Rensburg said the problem started in 2021 when the city was placed under illegal administration by the ANC government and money was spent without revenue collected.

“Estimations were done on accounts incorrectly and it caused a huge problem with the corrections and collections of the outstanding debt,” she said.

Van Rensburg said she doubted the debt would be passed down to residents. “But we all need to take responsibility to pay our accounts,” she added.

NOW READ: ‘We mean business!’: City of Tshwane disconnects non-payers