THABAZIMBI mayor, Patricia Moshito said the R54 million electricity bill that the municipality owed Eskom was inherited from the previous administration and the revenue they were now collecting was not enough to cover this bill.
Moshito was responding to a call from DA councillor, Bertie Joubert that she should take action against the chief financial officer (CFO), Charles Malema for failing to ensure the electricity account was being paid every month.
According to Moshito, she could not take any action against the current CFO because the debt was accrued before he was appointed.
“When I took office, I was shocked to see how huge the bill was. I went to the Waterberg District Municipality for help. The Waterberg mayor was also shocked. I met with the MEC for cooperative governance, human settlement and traditional affairs, Ishmael Kgetjepe and Eskom’s management to discuss ways to settle the account.
“We agreed that we would pay little by little until the debt was cleared, as long as Eskom did not add more arrears to Thabazimbi’s bill.
“It pains me that we are still struggling to pay the bill and we are trying our level best. This problem started because the previous administration did not pay the bills as they should have,” she said.
Joubert said it was clear to him that the municipality failed to pay the account for more than a year. He said failure to pay on time could lead to Eskom switching off the electricity in some areas with major economical and social effects.
