The Tshwane municipality says it has paid R876m owed to Eskom but it cannot promise that it will not owe the power utility again as the metro struggles with revenue collection.

On Monday, the power utility put pressure on the municipality to pay the R878m debt saying that the metro had “erratic” payments which negatively affected Eskom’s ability to pay its debt in excess of R46.6bn.

Metro spokesperson Selby Bokaba said the municipality paid R876m out of R878m it owed Eskom by Thursday morning.

“It is important to pay Eskom because we find ourselves in the same boat [of non-payment] as Eskom because we all rely on our customers to pay us for the services we render,” Bokaba said.

He said the municipality could not pay Eskom because of low revenue collection due to non-payments for services by residents.

“Eskom provides us with bulk electricity that we then supply to the residents and that is why it is important for the residents, customers that consume electricity, to pay us so that we can pay Eskom.”

As the municipality continues to struggle with financial problems that were also highlighted in the Auditor General’s report in which Tshwane was among 28% of municipalities in a dire financial position. Bokaba said the metro could not guarantee that its metro will not owe Eskom again in the future.

“I wish I could say we will not be in arrears with Eskom again but I can only say that confidently if residents pay [for services],” he said.

A continued trajectory of non-payment of services by consumers could be a threat to the municipality.
“One day we will sit in a situation where Eskom decides to stop bulk supply of electricity to Tshwane because Tshwane is not paying them. “These are the ramifications of not paying for electricity and water,” Bokaba said.

The municipality has pinned hopes of financial stability on its aggressive #TshwaneYaTima revenue collection campaign, which resumed on June 22. The campaign disconnects services to defaulting residents.

“It should not get to this [disconnections]. Our communities need to have a culture of payment for services. It is going to take time but we should be patient and educate our people about the importance of paying for services,” he said.

The metro says it is owed about R17bn by government departments, embassies, businesses, entities and residential customers.