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Pretoria – It is not Eskom’s intention to cut off power to individuals, said acting CEO Matshela Koko.
Koko was speaking to reporters at the North Gauteng High Court on Thursday, following Judge Hans Fabricius’s ruling that the power utility may cut power to municipalities with outstanding debt if solutions are not reached by January 16 2017.
“For years South Africans did not have electricity. It hurts me and pains Eskom to cut supply of electricity. Whether it's five hours or 24 hours, it hurts,” he said.
Koko said debt is currently at R9bn and is projected to amount to R12bn by the end of the financial year. R1.2bn has already been written off and a further R1.2bn will be impaired. This means Eskom's total impairment over the next 12 months will come to R2.4bn.
“We cannot borrow money to generate electricity to give to municipalities that don’t pay.” He added that it is important to recover debt as “responsible citizens”.
“We need to borrow money for capital expenditure, not to run operations,” explained Koko.
Marcus Pawson, head of local government and environmental affairs at AfriForum, which presented the urgent matter as a means to block Eskom from cutting power, said the civil rights body is “disappointed” by the ruling. “We did not succeed in the interdict to protect the civil rights of community members that have paid electricity, and now have to bear the brunt because of the failures of our municipalities and local government.”
However, Pawson commended Eskom for trying to keep up financial standards. “But we still believe the right to electricity for community members should have weighed heavier than the rights of the municipalities that are not bringing their bit to the table.”
Pawson added that AfriForum will reconsider its arguments for the main application to be heard on March 22 and 23. The civil rights body will challenge Eskom’s authority to implement power cuts as a means to collect debt.
Fabricius ruled that municipalities are to make arrangements with Eskom to recover the debt before January 16. If agreements are not reached, Eskom may turn off power at structured times. These are from 06:00 to 08:00 and 17:00 to 19:30 on weekdays, and 08:30 to 11:00 and 15:00 to 17:30 on weekends.
