City of Ekurhuleni hits back at Eskom’s R544m debt ‘claims’

The City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) has slammed Eskom’s statement that it is owed R544 million, and has since lodged a dispute with National Treasury. 

In a statement issued on Monday, the CoE said it would also not hesitate to initiate litigation against the power utility “over the non-compliance with the provisions of the municipal finance legislation”. 

The city said it had written to Eskom to publicly withdraw their statement as well, alluding to the fact that this was not the first time the utility had “flout[ed] legislated financial practices”. 

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‘No urgency’

Last week, Eskom said the CoE paid R530 million of its bulk accounts, totalling R1.74 billion, on 18 February, but that the outstanding R544 million still had to be paid. 

“This is in breach of the electricity supply agreement between Eskom and the city, and it places a significant strain on the utility’s financial performance and sustainability.” 

Eskom said they had engaged with the CoE, and escalated the matter to mayor Tanya Campbell, but received no assistance. 

“The late payments by the city has resulted in Eskom charging it interest of R86 million [a] year to date.” 

Senior manager of Gauteng customer services at Eskom, Daphne Mokwena, said it was “disappointing” to see how the municipality and the mayor were dealing with the matter, “as no sense of urgency is observed from them”. 

The CoE, however, is gearing up to make sure residents’ electricity supply is not “unlawfully disrupted”. 

The city is also vehemently opposing the R86 million in interest charges, an amount which they said was “strenuously defended”. 

“The City of Ekurhuleni still believes that an amicable conclusion can be reached between itself and Eskom to end… the current impasse. 

“The city believes that a healthy working relationship with Eskom is still achievable.” 

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