Eskom has defended its decision to cut off peak-time electricity to five municipalities in the Northern Cape on Friday.
“This is due to the municipalities defaulting on existing payment terms and payment arrangements‚” the utility said in a statement.
“The total combined arrear debt for these five defaulting municipalities is standing at just over R113 million as at December 2015‚ threatening the financial sustainability of Eskom in the Northern Cape. Eskom is legally bound by the Public Finance and Management Act (PFMA) to collect all revenue due to it and therefore‚ we cannot allow debt levels to go unchecked‚” the utility added.
Supply will be disconnected between 07:00 to 10:00 in the morning and 18:00 to 20:00 in the evening.
Residents of these areas will be disconnected from peak-time electricity supplies:
- Magareng (affecting the town of Warrenton)
- Thembelihle (Strydenburg and Hopetown)
- Dikgatlong (Barkly West)
- Renosterberg (Petrusville and Philipstown) and
- Ubuntu (Victoria West‚ Richmond and Loxton).
In December‚ several other Karoo towns were left without electricity when Eskom went ahead with the disconnection of bulk electricity supply to four municipalities‚ prompting an intervention from the Eastern Cape provincial government to suspend the outages. The affected municipalities – Gariep‚ Nxuba‚ Maletswai and Ikwezi– owe the power utility a combined R168-million. The main towns affected were Aliwal North‚ Burgersdorp‚ Steynsburg‚ Jansenville‚ Adelaide and Bedford.
The announcement that Eskom had lost patience with outstanding debts was made clear in April 2015‚ when Eskom announced plans to interrupt bulk electricity supply to the top 20 defaulting municipalities across the country‚ with effect from June last year. This represented about 3.8 million people‚ or 7% of the population. The total municipal arrears debt greater than 30 days was R4.6 billion as at March 31‚ Eskom said in a statement then. Subsequently‚ most of the municipalities made a commitment to pay up.
Five disconnected municipalities owe R113 million‚ says Eskom
Eskom has defended its decision to cut off peak-time electricity to five municipalities in the Northern Cape on Friday.
“This is due to the municipalities defaulting on existing payment terms and payment arrangements‚” the utility said in a statement.
“The total combined arrear debt for these five defaulting municipalities is standing at just over R113 million as at December 2015‚ threatening the financial sustainability of Eskom in the Northern Cape. Eskom is legally bound by the Public Finance and Management Act (PFMA) to collect all revenue due to it and therefore‚ we cannot allow debt levels to go unchecked‚” the utility added.
Supply will be disconnected between 07:00 to 10:00 in the morning and 18:00 to 20:00 in the evening.
Residents of these areas will be disconnected from peak-time electricity supplies:
- Magareng (affecting the town of Warrenton)
- Thembelihle (Strydenburg and Hopetown)
- Dikgatlong (Barkly West)
- Renosterberg (Petrusville and Philipstown) and
- Ubuntu (Victoria West‚ Richmond and Loxton).
In December‚ several other Karoo towns were left without electricity when Eskom went ahead with the disconnection of bulk electricity supply to four municipalities‚ prompting an intervention from the Eastern Cape provincial government to suspend the outages. The affected municipalities – Gariep‚ Nxuba‚ Maletswai and Ikwezi– owe the power utility a combined R168-million. The main towns affected were Aliwal North‚ Burgersdorp‚ Steynsburg‚ Jansenville‚ Adelaide and Bedford.
The announcement that Eskom had lost patience with outstanding debts was made clear in April 2015‚ when Eskom announced plans to interrupt bulk electricity supply to the top 20 defaulting municipalities across the country‚ with effect from June last year. This represented about 3.8 million people‚ or 7% of the population. The total municipal arrears debt greater than 30 days was R4.6 billion as at March 31‚ Eskom said in a statement then. Subsequently‚ most of the municipalities made a commitment to pay up.
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