ESKOM: Municipality says Newcastle’s power will NOT be cut off

While the threat of cut-offs looms over certain municipalities, local governance has stated Newcastle's power supply is safe.

March 27, 2018

Bruce Douglas 1 minute read

Contrary to rumour, Eskom will not shut off Newcastle’s power – yet.

Although national media reports indicate otherwise, the municipality stated it had gone into an agreement with the power utility.

This relates to the approximately R74-million owed by the municipality.

Newcastle was included in a list of six municipalities which had defaulted on payments to Eskom.

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However, officials said rumours of power cuts were not factual.

“The power won’t be shut off because we will pay Eskom over five months, finishing in July.”

According to the municipality, a specific manufacturer owes the power utility around R50-million.

This left the municipality with a choice to cut services or allow operations to continue.

“If we allowed the company to liquidate, we would have lost that entire amount.”

Discussions on the matter were broadened to include both the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) and the provincial Department of Treasury.

The municipality said these departments had lent their support in the matter.

“Because of the arrangement with Eskom, there won’t be a cut-off of Newcastle’s power. We also have an agreement with the company to recover the outstanding amount.”

For the full story, make sure to pick up a copy of the Newcastle Advertiser this week.

The latest edition will be on shelves from Thursday (March 29).