ESKOM TO DISCONNECT TCM

LYDENBURG – With an outstanding account of R146 million, Eskom has now served Thaba Chweu Municipality (TCM) with a notice of disconnection of bulk electricity supplies.

Issued in terms of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act, 2000, (Act 3 of 2000), this notice was sent to the municipality last Wednesday (refer to p30 of Steelburger/Lydenburg News).

TCM now has to supply the service provider with written comments indicating why Eskom should or should not proceed with the proposed disconnection by October 11. “TCM has not settled the electricity account on the due dates. The total outstanding amount for the bulk supply of electricity is R146 638 459, some of which has been outstanding for more than 90 days,” the notice states.

In June this year, the amount owed to Eskom was R104 million. Shockingly, since then, it has increased drastically, tipping to over R146 million.

The DA said that while it welcomes the invitation for submissions, it believes that the responsibility lies with municipal manager (MM) Mr Surprise Maebele and cooperative governance MEC SPD Skhosana, as the buck ultimately stops with them.

“It is therefore absolutely critical that the MEC and the MM take every possible avenue to ensure the continued supply of electricity to thousands of residents, as their lives will be forced to a sudden standstill. Without electricity, water pumps will stop working, sewerage networks will stop operating, and every hospital, clinic, home and business will be left in the dark.”

The DA said this amount has been outstanding for months on end, and it can find no justification in residents suffering at the expense of the municipality’s incompetence. It believes that Eskom should realign its supply policy, bypass defaulting municipalities and deal with consumers directly. This approach not only protects paying consumers from municipal maladministration, but also gives the company the opportunity to go after the real culprit.

“Thaba Chweu’s inability to pay Eskom has been rumoured for months, yet, for some inexplicable reason MEC Skhosana and the provincial government continue with their kid-glove approach and refuse to acknowledge the governance crisis in the municipality, nor intervening in terms of Section 139(1)(b) or (c) of the constitution.”

After several queries were sent to TCM, it replied to the crisis in not more than four sentences, stating, “The municipality is in continuous engagement with Eskom regarding the debt. It has been placed under administration twice and during that period, it was not generating sufficient income, which caused the debt to escalate. Eskom is better placed to respond to the cut-off. TCM will not speak on its behalf.”

This newspaper has contacted Eskom with regard to the notice served to the municipality. The service provider confirmed that the notice is legitimate and that it would like to get the views and feelings of the municipalities’ customers before it goes ahead with the planned disconnection on October 16.