It is a tall order

Emalahleni is not out of the woods yet with their Eskom account.

The municipality managed to meet their December obligations. R51 million was paid for their current account, R14 million on the secondary accounts and R20 million on the arrear payments.
The lights stayed on and that means the municipality managed to pull another rabbit out of the hat. However, the current accounts for January, R45 million and a further R14 million on the secondary account plus R25 million on arrears, could not be fully paid.

“A request for a few weeks grace on these payments is being considered by Eskom as we speak. To add to this burden, the accounts payable in February have already also been received. This require a further R43 million on the current account and R18 million on secondary accounts by mid month as well,” said Mr Theo van Vuuren, municipal manager.
“The total outstanding on arrears to Eskom has decreased by R195 million since May and we are the top performing municipality under perhaps the most difficult conditions in this respect in the province,” Van Vuuren said.

But as 2016 dawned, the payment rate from residents dropped to a dismal 61%.

“The result is a severe strain on our ability to pay our creditors and this impacts on service delivery. In addition my team is under enormous strain to meet the deadlines in terms of the payment agreement with Eskom and we have had to work around the clock and negotiate with Eskom for some grace to meet the payments,” Van Vuuren said.

Emalahleni has to honour the arrangements made with Eskom to prevent cutting off. The power utility giant shows no mercy when it comes to skipping a payment. They cut the electricity supply to five towns in the Eastern Cape three weeks ago.

Emalahleni Local Municipality could not honour their arrangement with Eskom in January. (Photo: Kyle Goldswain).

The Magareng, Thembelihle, Ubuntu, Dikgatlong and Renosterberg municipalities in the Northern Cape owe Eskom about R113 million for electricity. Closer to home the following Mpumalanga municipalities will be disconnected by April 11 unless their accounts are settled or they have reached acceptable repayment with Eskom: Mkhondo, Nkomazi, Chief Albert Luthuli, Lekwa, Govan Mbeki, Emakhazeni and Thaba Chweu.

“We have no option but to intensify our credit control and cut off actions in the coming weeks despite its unpopularity, whilst we are busy finalising contracts with a new debt collector company to start attacking the R1.8 billion of outstanding debt by customers to the municipality. Requests for voluntary repayments had little effect whilst the corruption levels discovered which allowed more than 20 000 customers accumulating arrears without being cut or who have through various means managed not to pay call for drastic remedial actions in the interest of our community at large.”