Electricity Minister: Municipalities owing Eskom over R100 billion still defaulting! Municipalities with a combined bill of over R100 billion have made no progress in paying the debt it owes Eskom.
Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa made the announcement during a media briefing in Johannesburg on Tuesday, saying several municipalities are struggling to honour regular payments.
He says the rampant payment defaults are severely impacting the utility’s revenue collection.
Electricity Minister
Eskom has recently adopted a more aggressive approach to ensure municipalities pay for the electricity supply.
Last year, it froze the bank accounts of the Emfuleni Municipality after it showed no interest in settling its R8 billion debt.
The power utility also threatened to interrupt electricity supply to parts of Johannesburg unless the city took steps to address its outstanding debt.
Despite these measures, said Ramokgopa, the amount owed to Eskom continues to rise.
“Eskom is faced with an existential problem because it’s generating this electricity and spending money. They must collect from bulk consumers and also where they are reticulating, but they’re finding it difficult to collect. So, they are unable to reinvest back into their asset base and, if not managed properly, it’s going to result in the total collapse of the electricity complex in the country.”
On the other hand, Minister Ramokgopa says municipalities are owed more than R300 billion in unpaid electricity bills by their residential customers.
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