R100 million coming up

ABAQULUSI Municipality is rapidly approaching a staggering milestone (if it hasn’t already passed it). The milestone is huge. It will be R100-million that is owed to the municipality by its residents, farms and businesses for services rendered.

The latest figures available are for January this year. Then, the municipality was owed a total of R97,222,311 and 41 cents.

The breakdown for different areas within the municipality is as follows:

Vryheid R28,376,066.19

Bhekuzulu R17,983,420.48

Mondlo R12,474,785.62

Hlobane R661,639.68

Thuthukani R3,845,109.74

Vaalbank R336,292.89

Louwsburg R4,733,698.66

Coronation R4,751,422.48

Farms R23,381,749.77

Vryheid East R678,125.90

Yet, despite this frightful figure, electricity and water keeps flowing to residents, things keep ticking along, but surely something somewhere is subsidising or propping up the arrears. Ultimately something has to collapse.

AbaQulusi is not among the municipalities that Eskom has contemplated interrupting bulk electricity supply to – in other words, cutting them off. There are 20 municipalities across the country who are likely to be affected as from June 5.

According to Eskom, as at March 31 this year, the total municipal arrear debt greater than 30 days was R4.6 billion. Of this amount, the top 20 defaulting municipalities are currently indebted to Eskom to the amount of R3.68 billion for the bulk supply of electricity.

The interim Chief Executive of Eskom Zethembe Khoza says, “Non-payment for electricity undermines Eskom’s statutory obligation to generate and supply electricity to municipalities nationally on a financially sustainable basis. We have therefore decided to exercise our right according to the provisions of the Electricity Regulation Act 4 of 2006 and the supply agreement with municipalities, which entitled us to disconnect the supply of electricity to defaulting municipalities.”

Eskom recognises that the disconnection of electricity supply may cause undue hardship to consumers and members of the community, and may adversely affect the delivery of other services, however, customer disconnection is always the last resort explored.

AbaQulusi hasn’t reached that point yet, but ultimately, if unpaid service delivery accounts continue to pile up, that will be the case.

Obviously, the R97,222,311 and 41 cents owed to the municipality is not all for electricity. Part of it will be water, rates and other service charges. But is it the dire straits that Eskom is in that has compelled the government to withhold equitable share funding to 60 municipalities, in an effort to force these municipalities to settle their Eskom debts.

True, AbaQulusi is not one of the affected local governments, but with its ever-rising debts, one day, unless something is done about it, we will be.