There’s been an agreement that the power utility will now manage the power supply to the area.

“This follows a court ruling from June 2023 which is now finally being enforced. It appointed Eskom as agent for electricity bills due to the municipality’s default on payment to the national electricity supplier,” explains FF Plus Councillor Gerda Senekal.

ELM’s debt to Eskom amounted to R5.9b in 2022, after which the municipality applied to Eskom for the debt relief programme. The programme is monitored by the National Treasury (NT).

“The municipality could not fulfill the agreement to pay off its historical debt and keep its current electricity bill up to date, after which Eskom withdrew the benefit,” said Senekal.

According to Senekal, the FF Plus foresees major challenges with the transfer of electricity bills to Eskom, since residents only receive one bill from Emfuleni and now have to make the calculations themselves to transfer the amounts for electricity consumption to Eskom.

Problems can creep in if the account capture is not done on time or accurately.

This can lead to households having their power cut off even though their accounts have been fully or partially settled.

“If Emfuleni had not been guilty of mismanagement and had managed the municipality successfully, consumers would have been spared this inconvenience. Residents are now being punished for the ANC government’s incompetence,” concluded Senekal.

The FF Plus said they will remain in contact with residents to assist with any problems and hold the municipality accountable for the new arrangements.