GAUTENG. – The Democratic Alliance (DA) run Midvaal Local Municipality (MLM) was once again in the spotlight after it was announced as the only municipality in Gauteng not owing any debt to Eskom by Premier Panyaza Lesufi.

Lesufi was speaking at the recent Gauteng Energy Indaba held in Midrand last week, Lesufi revealed that  Gauteng municipalities owed the power utility a staggering R13 billion, with Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) owing a substantial piece of the debt.

“We are pushing very strongly that debt owed to Eskom must be scrapped because the national government has scrapped Eskom’s debt.

“The proposal from Treasury is there already, how that debt is supposed to be scrapped so it is not out of the ordinary. For us to scrap your debt, you must pay your current account, convert to a pre-paid metering system, and be in a position to honor the debt arrangements.”

Lesufi said Eskom has already started a process where municipalities must apply why their debts must be scrapped.

Lesufi said the provincial government will increase money set aside for dealing with energy challenges in the province from R1.2 billion close to R2 billion.

“Where transformers have been stolen, blown away, and removed, we want to commit through City Power in Johannesburg to repair this infrastructure. We are prepared to invest in converting each household in Gauteng, including businesses, to be on pre-paid smart meters.”

Lesufi said everyone in Gauteng must start on a clean slate by January 2024.

SA Energy Council CEO, James Mackay, said the private sector is ready to collaborate with the government in accelerating the transition to renewable energy.

“We lost significant time through the state capture years, and it relates to the capabilities of our SOEs and often the public sector to move with speed in this transition. This was then compounded by COVID-19. On top of deepening economic and social deficits and struggling state capacity, we add this biggest global disrupter in history – the energy transition,” said Mackay.