Five local municipalities have been identified for Eskom’s Distribution Agency Agreement (DAA), which is designed to support structures in the management of their electricity operations, revenue collection and payment performance.

The selected municipalities are Govan Mbeki, Lekwa, Emalahleni, City of Mbombela and Thaba Chweu.

Mpumalanga Exco spokesperson Thulasizwe Thomo said the Premier’s Co-ordinating Forum (PCF) has supported the agreement as a measure to resolve Eskom debt.

Among the contributing factors for the high debt are poor revenue collection and electricity losses through illegal connections.

The Department of Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (Coghsta) in collaboration with the Mpumalanga Provincial Treasury, the three districts and the South African Local Government Association are expected to meet with the state-owned power utility to discuss the agreement, with the first meeting set for April 8.

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According to Thomo, the forum urged provincial government departments to pay municipal bills, saying that failure to settle outstanding debts is detrimental to the municipalities’ service delivery efforts. It further directed municipalities to implement credit control and debt collection measures to curb rising debts.

The PCF sitting on March 30 also deliberated extensively on service delivery, infrastructure and institutional issues that are linked to the priorities of the seventh administration of the provincial government to improve the socio-economic conditions. This includes the report of the public protector’s (PP) investigation of 42 complaints from provincial departments and 77 municipalities.

The complaints include issues relating to municipal billing systems, incomplete projects, sewer blockages and administration failures. The PCF noted that the PP’s remedial action is binding, and can only be set aside by a court of law.

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Thomo said the PCF resolved to enhance the response time to inquiries from the public protector’s office, thereby ensuring that investigations proceed efficiently without being hindered by administrative delays.

The Coghsta spokesperson, Freddy Ngobe, is yet to confirm details surrounding the meeting on April 8.