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Mbombela - Eskom has poured cold water on Mpumalanga’s hopes to help indebted municipalities escape the power provider's cut-off date of June 5.
This is after Eskom published a list of 10 municipalities that have entered into a settlement agreement with the power utility.
READ: Eskom reaches payment agreement with 10 municipalities
The municipalities not on the list will face cut-offs if they do not pay the millions owed to Eskom. These include Emalahleni, Lekwa, Govan Mbeki and Msukaligwa local municipalities in Mpumalanga, and Matjhabeng, Ngwathe and Maluti-a-Phofung local municipalities in the Free State.
"The issue of us not being in the [list of] 10 municipalities doesn't mean we are not willing to pay or haven't met with Eskom; we are the ones who approached Eskom last year... Payment plans have been agreed between Eskom and the affected municipalities," said provincial co-operative governance and traditional affairs [Cogta] spokesperson George Mthethwa on Wednesday.
Mthethwa said a provincial task team that accounts to Cogta MEC Refilwe Mtsweni was established to monitor the full implementation of the plan.
Very low offer
However, Eskom spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe said the payment agreement with Mpumalanga was not met due to them offering to pay lower instalments than expected.
"Yes, Mpumalanga has approached us and we held the talks, however, an agreement was not reached hence they are not part of the ten municipalities that had an agreement with us. Let me say this; they came with a very low offer of settling their debts. Considering how much they owe and that they are still using the services from us, that will not work at all.
“Mpumalanga is part of the big three provinces whose municipalities are defaulters in the country. The province’s municipalities owes Eskom R1.5bn. The whole country’s municipalities have an unsettled debt of R4.6bn combined.
"If such money can be paid to us we can be able to strengthen and build our networks and also help in maintenance of our plants which all need money. As you know we are approaching winter and power consumption is going to be high,” said Phasiwe.
Mthethwa argued that there are a number of aspects contributing to the non-payment of Eskom, which include the illegal use of electricity.
"There is a high level of electricity theft throughout the country, and municipalities in Mpumalanga are not immune to this.
"Millions of rands are lost by municipalities as they are not able to recoup the money. The department is currently exploring all available avenues to assist municipalities to pay the Eskom debt. At the same time, we are appealing to consumers to play their part in paying for electricity consumption," said Mthethwa.
