ELM salary delay looms again as Eskom digs in heels
With ELM/Eskom debt negotiations still seemingly deadlocked, Emfuleni municipal employees are bracing themselves for yet another damaging salary delay as month-end January approaches.
And with the clock ticking on another potential salary doomsday for thousands of ELM municipal employees, and with no debt agreement yet signed and sealed, the amount owed to Eskom has relentlessly climbed to R5,9 billion and counting.
As recently as this week, Eskom rejected yet another formal request by ELM Executive Mayor Sipho Radebe to lift the court attachment of its bank accounts, Eskom documents reveal.
This follows the crisis intervention to temporarily lift the ELM bank attachment late December 2022 by Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan, who personally intervened after desperate appeals by Mayor Radebe and Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi.
But Eskom attitudes have now hardened and the bulk utility seems more determined than ever to force ELM to accept a harsh and hardline proposal which includes a raft of not only payments, but direct Eskom management of ELM electricity assets.
The ELM coalition Government of Local Unity (GLU) is now also digging in its heels, and has said acceding to present Eskom demands would siphon all funds for municipal service delivery and de facto overturn the result of democratic elections.
The GLU is also likely to submit Eskom demands to the ELM Council for a decision, thus effectively politicising the entire issue and escalating it from the present exclusive domain of State-system bureaucrats, said political sources.
The effects are likely to be far-reaching should ELM agree to the present Eskom demands, including rigidly-enforced credit control measures by the municipality, to whom the Emfuleni business sector alone owes up to R2 billion, and rising to about R5 billion if residential debt over the years is included.
In a statement this week, Eskom said:
“The two parties are currently in negotiations on proposals regarding the overdue debt of R5,9 billion.”
On whether the ELM bank attachment would be lifted again for January 2023 salary payments, Eskom said: “This matter forms part of the discussions and can only be responded to post the negotiation process.”
