City Power denies owing Eskom

City Power released a statement on 14 August, categorically denying that they owe Eskom R1.08 billion.

“We would like to place it on record that City Power, like any other entity, purchases electricity from Eskom which it on-sells to its customers across Johannesburg. City Power in turn pays Eskom on or before the due date, which is a practice that is done in the normal course of doing business,” said managing director Sicelo Xulu in a statement.

“These media articles misrepresented the facts and created a false perception that City Power was in arrears.” Xulu added,”The Utility makes its monthly payments to Eskom on time every month. City Power views these incorrect allegations in a serious light. In its dealings with Eskom and all of its suppliers, City Power is guided by corporate governance principles and accepted business practice. We are engaging with the authorities in this matter to ensure they have correct records on this matter,” said Xulu.

On Wednesday, Eskom said municipalities owed it a total of R11.4 billion at the end of last month, but only R2.7 billion of that was in arrears.

Eskom spokesperson Andrew Etzinger said people are getting confused. “It would be wrong to say City Power owes Eskom. City power does not owe Eskom, they make their payment every month which is not a problem” said Etzinger.