Bulk consumers in ELM now pay Eskom directly

Bulk power consumers in the Emfuleni local municipality (Evaton, Sebokeng, Vaaloewer, Vanderbijlpark and Vereeniging) have been more assured of uninterrupted power supply since September because they can now pay their power debt directly to Eskom.

This follows a court ruling from the High Court in Pretoria on 5 July this year. Emfuleni was given six months to comply with the court ruling.

The court further found that since 2018, Emfuleni has been acting in contempt of court orders because he does not honor his agreements with Eskom.

“The FF Plus supports the court order because it provides about 200 large consumers and retailers with uninterrupted power in addition to load shedding,” Councilor Gerda Senekal of the FF Plus said in a media statement.

The statement further reads:

Due to Emfuleni’s non-payment to Eskom, the municipality also applied forced load shedding which left businesses without power for long periods.

Eskom will pay back the profit difference to the municipality to enable Emfuleni to more easily settle its account with Eskom.

Homeowners still pay their outstanding power bill directly to the municipality. However, it is intended that Eskom will take over full management of Emfuleni’s power accounts in the next twelve months.

Emfuleni will continue to be responsible for reading power meters and restoring power infrastructure.

The FF Plus is of the opinion that this agreement will enable ELM to successfully apply to the national treasury for debt relief, which means that its outstanding power debt will be paid if the municipality faithfully pays its current debt to Eskom every month.

Emfuleni owes Eskom R6,2 billion.