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Cape Town – Eskom has agreed not to implement power cuts to four Eastern Cape municipalities on Tuesday, after a lengthy meeting resulted in a truce.
"Power interruptions in four Eastern Cape municipalities have been suspended following the payment of part of the debt and signing of payment agreements," Eskom spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe said on Tuesday.
As required by the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act, Eskom had given Aliwal North, Steynsburg, Jansenville, Bedford and Adelaide municipalities sufficient notice to settle their debt, which totals R173m.
Eskom was planning on interrupting power supply three times a day, from 06:00 to 09:00, 12:00 to 14:00 and 17:00 to 21:00, starting on Tuesday.
Phasiwe told Fin24 earlier that the power interruptions were Eskom’s last resort to recover the money. He said Eskom had taken necessary steps to recover the debt before the interruptions.
“We wrote them letters. We also involved other stakeholders such as provincial co-operative governance and Traditional Affairs leadership and the South African Local Government Association,” he said.
Rising municipal debt is a long-standing problem for Eskom. National Treasury earlier this year urged municipalities to honour their financial obligations to the power supplier.
Residents and businesses in the affected municipalities - some of whom have been paying their electricity bills diligently - will bear the brunt of the move.
