Eskom urges delinquent KZN municipalities to settle debt
Eskom in KwaZulu-Natal has made an appeal to the province's municipalities to settle their outstanding debts.
The power utility says debt has gone up by R8 million since March last year.
It says as of January this year, municipal debt is sitting at around R1.5 billion.
The utility's provincial spokesperson, Joyce Zingoni says the AbaQulusi, Ugu District, and uPhongolo municipalities are at risk of being kicked out of the National Treasury’s debt relief programme.
Zingoni says this is due to their failure to make payment arrangements.
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"Eskom supplies electricity in bulk to these municipalities, and in turn sell it at a profit to their customers. With municipal collection rates of more than 70%, there is no valid excuse for not servicing their current accounts for the bulk supply of electricity.
"Municipal debt puts an immense burden on Eskom’s revenue stream, which negatively affects service delivery. This unacceptable behaviour makes it impossible for Eskom KZN to fulfil its obligations and puts the security of supply of the province and municipal customers at risk.
"The burden of absorbing the shortfall and continuing to maintain and improve infrastructure to ensure supply to these non-paying municipalities is placing an unbearable strain on Eskom. While the country is experiencing the impact of supply constraints, it is unjust of delinquent KwaZulu-Natal municipalities to expect Eskom to provide electricity at no cost to them."
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