The High Court and Eskom is very quiet about the electricity interruptions.
The wait is on for the High Court to announce a date whereby the power utility and Save Emalahleni group will face each other in court over the pending electricity interruptions.
Eskom is demanding outstanding debt from the Emalahleni Local Municipality and the Save Emalahleni group is trying to prevent Eskom from flicking the switch. Eskom wanted to cut electricity on Thursday, December 14 after a number of calls on the local municipality to settle their outstanding debt.
Local attorney, Mr Johan Coetzee successfully launched an urgent application in the High Court on Tuesday, December 12 to stop Eskom from taking the drastic step. Coetzee argued that Eskom decided to interrupt the electricity despite the fact that the community have taken all reasonable steps and exhausted all legal remedies at their disposal to force the local municipality, the provincial and national executives to fulfil their constitutional obligations towards the community.
Coetzee went as far as to call on the expertise of an engineer who has been involved in the water and sewerage system since 1982 to show what devastation lies ahead if the electricity should be interrupted.
Mr Willem van As said that untreated water will flow through the purification works. Consumers will have this untreated water coming out of their household taps. He predicted the higher lying areas would not have water soon after the interruptions start. Van As also said that the sewerage that needs to be pumped from low lying areas will overflow within minutes after the interruptions start. The sewerage will run untreated through the purification works into Witbank Dam and the Olifants River, with disastrous results on the delicate ecosystem.
Mr Francois Visagie, who is a consulting engineer for the municipality said Eskom will loose revenue amounting to R67-million and the nett loss to the municipality between the selling price and Eskom’s purchase price will be in excess of R18.2-million.
Read the FULL STORY in the WITBANK NEWS out today
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