ESKOM woes getting worse
In August 2018 the municipality owed Eskom R430 million. This figure now stands at R505 million.
LYDENBURG – Lydenburg’s Central Business District (CBD) and residential areas are, at the moment, responsible for almost all Eskom’s revenue collection.
Steelburger/Lydenburg News was provided with the percentage payments for all areas within Thaba Chweu Local Municipality’s (TCLM) Eskom revenue collections. The newspaper asked the municipality for a clear ratio indicating where revenue collection is a problem.
It would seem that the CBD is the only area paying its electricity account timeously. Graskop is responsible for only 3,19 per cent revenue collection, Mashishing 15 per cent, Sabie 4,87 per cent, Simile 0,79 per cent and Harmony Hill 0,33 per cent of revenue collection. Lydenburg CBD has a 75,16 per cent payment for electricity.
Skhila forms part of it and Mashishing and is divided into these areas. This means that Lydenburg CBD and its residential areas are responsible for almost all contributions towards the Eskom account.
Since it last reported on this debt owed by TCLM, it has again increased. In August 2018 the municipality owed Eskom R430 million. This figure now stands at R505 million. This was revealed during the last finance meeting of 2018.
DA councillor, Nicko Janse van Vuuren said in certain areas more than 90 per cent of services, including electricity, are not being paid for. “There are several factors that have contributed to this debt. The municipality does not act against those responsible for not paying, money is being mismanaged and embezzled, the Eskom money was never ring-fenced and the service provider should have acted against these municipalities several years ago.”
He said all of these factors are on account of political expedient. “The money for Eskom was never ringfenced and hence it was an easy resource for everything except paying the utility. This is just an example of the horrendous management of this municipality and the culture of non-payment.”
Themba Sibiya, communications manager of TCLM said the municipality continues to pay the Eskom account, the interest and penalties levied on the debt. “These are quite exorbitant which affects the original payment plan because it is simply not affordable. We have to renegotiate a payment arrangement monthly to ensure that we keep the lights on,” he said.
Sibiya confirmed that illegal connections in all areas have become a headache. “We remove the illegal connections, but as soon as the officials leave, they are reconnected. In some areas, officials experience violent confrontations with communities, which at times become life threatening.
“We are currently revising our revenue collection strategy in order to address the security risks and other grey areas which impede effective revenue collection. We are also looking into ways of curbing distribution losses.”
