SEDIBENG. – “We are still part of the debt relief programme,” said the Emfuleni Local Municipality’s (ELM) spokesperson, Makhosonke Sangweni.

Sangweni said that the ELM puts it on record that the National Treasury has confirmed that they are still part of the Debt Relief Programme. This confirmation was made on September 23 and is highly welcomed by the municipality considering all the “insinuations” by Eskom.

Eskom recently attached ELM’s bank accounts to recover more than R8b in debt.

“Concerning the upliftment of the bank accounts, the municipality is still awaiting judgement from the Pretoria High Court. A draft agency agreement has been submitted to Eskom for consideration, however, we are still dealing with material differences around certain clauses.”

Sangweni said that ELM remains committed to working with all stakeholders, in particular Eskom to find long lasting solutions to these problems in the interest of Emfuleni consumers and everyone affected.

“Accordingly, the municipality would like to encourage consumers to pay their accounts to sustain services and for ELM to meet its debt obligations to its creditors. Households who can’t afford and qualify to be classified as indigent beneficiaries are urged to come forward to the municipality to register and help generate the much-needed revenue. Such households can register by visiting the municipality or through their ward councillors.”

Meanwhile, many ELM employees did not receive their salaries as expected on September 25 due to the attachment of ELM’s bank accounts. On September 23, the municipality communicated with councillors, staff, and service providers, advising them not to panic. The municipality said there would be delays in September payments as they have applied for an urgent court application to lift the attachment of accounts by Eskom.

ELM’s Municipal Manager April Ntuli asked divisional managers to notify all employees and councillors about potential salary payment delays due to account attachments.