Any plans by Eskom to cut the electricity supply to municipalities would be unlawful because of a pending court application against the electricity provider‚ the civil rights organisation AfriForum says.

The organisation said that‚ together with AfriBusiness‚ it had brought an application in December for a declaratory and prohibitory order against Eskom to prohibit it from cutting any town’s electricity.

Among others‚ it said it had added that minister of public enterprise‚ finance‚ energy‚ cooperative government and traditional affairs as well as the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) to the application.

“Any notice that Eskom now sends to municipalities to state that Eskom plans on cutting electricity supply is therefore unlawful because the case is sub judice‚” the organisation asserted.

“Eskom’s acts malevolently if it sends notice of planned electricity supply cuts and‚ as a result‚ cut ordinary citizens’ electricity because two government bodies cannot get their financial house in order. Eskom now targets ordinary users while they should in fact hold the government responsible for the outstanding monies‚” said Marcus Pawson‚ AfriForum’s head of local government affairs.

 In cases where municipalities did not pay their Eskom accounts or did not honour debt agreements‚ the parties should solve the matter by way of arbitration and mediation. As an alternative‚ National Treasury could withhold the equitable share of municipalities who were in arrears and pay over these millions to Eskom‚ Pawson added.

 “Neither AfriForum nor AfriBusiness takes these threats lightly. Both organisations are currently the only organisations who are ready with court documents to foil Eskom and hold the government responsible. These organisations challenge Eskom to make good on its threats – significant legal costs have been incurred to obtain legal certainty‚ and the organisations’ court application also includes a punitive cost order against Eskom‚” Pawson warned.