Pay Eskom direct chaos and confusion

This week Eskom said in writing no agreement had yet been reached and denied that the account migration process from ELM had started as already announced by organised business and the municipality recently.

Now confusion reigns on whether the door is open to businesses and the public to migrate and pay Eskom directly.

However, Eskom did say some power users had already migrated, referring to about 214 mentioned in the original High Court judgment.  ELM has not responded to repeated media enquiries.

Should Eskom and ELM not reach an agreement within six months as per the High Court order, they must go back to court.

At its core, the matter pivots on ELM revenue generation and security, with Eskom from the outset having overestimated potential municipal income and underestimated the challenges of revenue collection in Emfuleni, say political and Eskom sources.

But in the months since ELM and Eskom started negotiating a potential agreement, ELM revenue collection rates have plunged despite public appeals by ELM and organised business, largely due to public confusion on who and how electricity accounts should be paid.

Neither ELM or Eskom have implemented a transparent public-facing communication strategy and process on the matter either.

The issue is highly strategic to both ELM’s future financial viability and management of its electricity infrastructure assets, as well as to a crucial National Treasury municipal debt relief scheme granted in June 2023 on the municipality’s huge R6 billion debt to Eskom.

ELM and Eskom were directed by a Johannesburg High Court order issued earlier this year to set up a task team and develop a strategy and execution plan – an agency agreement – to ensure all municipal electricity accounts are eventually migrated for direct payment to Eskom.

The court order was obtained by the Golden Triangle Chamber of Commerce (GTCoC) on behalf of many large Power Users (LPU’s) in Emfuleni who then were granted permission to cut out ELM completely – along with all electricity account-holders – and pay Eskom direct.

Once reached this agreement would effectively allow Eskom to manage the ELM electricity revenue business and pay back to the municipality its appropriate share as an agent still reporting to the local authority.

Although not part of the High Court order, the National Treasury debt relief for ELM on its Eskom debt is dependent on a host of enhanced revenue-generation steps that impact the account migration process directly.

“No accounts are migrated until the Agency agreement is concluded. Currently identified customers are paying the electricity portion of the ELM accounts directly to Eskom,” Eskom said on enquiry.