Johannesburg - At least 20 municipalities owe Eskom more than a total of R1 billion in outstanding electricity fees.
According to Eskom, municipal arrears for electricity have risen sharply over the past year, and reached R1.3bn last month.
The provinces with the most municipal defaulters are Mpumalanga, Free State, North West and Gauteng.
Eskom recently issued notices of disconnection to Matlosana municipality in North West, which is in R92 million arrears, and Matjhabeng in the Free State, which is R145m in arrears.
The Star has learnt that another municipality in Gauteng faced with the prospect of having its power disconnected is Randfontein, which is R18m in arrears.
In total, Randfontein owes Eskom R50m, which includes its arrears and the current bill.
In a statement Eskom’s media desk said it issued disconnection notices only as a last resort, and it was required to follow processes, including giving affected customers the opportunity to make submissions before disconnections for non-payment.
However, it said Randfontein was not the largest defaulter.
Randfontein Municipality spokesman Lucky Chiya said: “We have engaged Eskom on this matter and entered into a payment plan agreement on how to service the current account and the arrears.”
Chiya said they would pay R10m at the end of this month and then R2m every month thereafter. He acknowledged that the municipality was in arrears of R18m.
Chiya said they had been engaging communities and businesses on this issue through the electronic media and local newspapers.
“We have assured them that there is no need to panic. There is no possible cut-off in the near future as the situation is under control.”
The SA Local Government Association (Salga) executive director of municipal infrastructure services, Mthobeli Kolisa, said the huge amounts owed by municipalities were of huge concern.
He said this affected the ability of Eskom to continue providing bulk electricity to municipalities, which then supply communities.
Kolisa said Salga had raised concerns that, as electricity prices rose, more consumers and middle-income households would default on paying their bills.
“It’s not the case of only municipalities struggling with this. Eskom is also struggling.”
He said Eskom was owed millions by the customers it was directly supplying with electricity.
Kolisa said more than 20 municipalities were in arrears and faced having their power disconnected by Eskom next month. These include Nala, Moqhaka, Ventersdorp, Westonaria, Kannaland, Lekwa, Thaba Chweu, Govan Mbeki, Ngwathe, Maluti-Phofung, Teemane, Gariep, Naledi and Thabazimbi municipalities.
Kolisa would not reveal how much each of the municipalities owed, saying this was confidential. “We want to find a way to resolve this because it has huge implications for consumers if Eskom were to disconnect municipalities. We want to find a solution before they are disconnected.”
He said some of the municipalities had made arrangements to pay within a certain period. “But Eskom insists that all the arrears must be paid in a month. We think that is being unreasonable,” Kolisa said.
The Star