The non-routine catch-up payment averted a salaries crisis at the struggling municipality for month-end July as Rand Water had promised to seize their bank accounts for non-payment of a more than R860 million debt.

ELM is notoriously unstable from a management and labour relations perspective with regular office occupations and hostage dramas taking place with apparent impunity by protesting employee and political interest groups.

The problem even without any immediate crisis is deemed so risky that ELM no longer holds council meetings in its own chambers in Vanderbijlpark but uses the Vereeniging Town Hall to avoid confrontations with crowds including its own employees.

Any non-payment of salaries is thus expected to provide the spark to literally set the institution ablaze and completely implode what remains of its service delivery.

ELM Municipal Manager Lucky Leseane declined to confirm or deny the latest payment to Rand Water, saying only that constant interaction and negotiation with the bulk utility provider was taking place.

But a variety of sources confirmed the roughly R130million figure.

In an earlier written response prior to the latest payment, Rand Water said ELM was two months behind in its payments and confirmed in writing it intended to attach ELM bank accounts in July in terms of a High Court judgment and writ.

However, ELM is still not in the clear on possible attachments by entities such as Eskom, which also has a long-standing judgment and writ against the municipality. Other business entities also have writs they can have executed against ELM at any time.

Leseane said ELM was in ongoing talks with Eskom on its payment plan.

Rand Water did not respond to queries this week and last week on the latest ELM payments or on the exact status of the ELM current account  after such payment.