Today is D-day for the Eastern Cape government to pay R55-million to Eskom to prevent the power utility from switching off four indebted Eastern Cape municipalities.Failure to pay by the end of today will result in further mass blackouts in the affected municipalities.
The provincial government this week revealed they were struggling to raise the cash and pleaded with Eskom for an extension to the end of January – a plea the province said had fallen on deaf ears.
Eskom, owed R170-million by the municipalities of Maletswai, Gariep, Nxuba and Ikwezi, had been switching them off for nine hours a day for a few days before the Bhisho government intervened.
The province managed to keep the lights on over Christmas while arranging to pay Eskom – but today is the deadline for payment.
Speaking to Daily Dispatch yesterday, cooperative governance and traditional affairs MEC Fikile Xasa said they were trying to convince Eskom to be lenient and grant a month-long extension.
The four municipalities buy bulk electricity from Eskom and sell it to their residents.
Gariep owes Eskom R42.96-million, Maletswai R64.98-million, Ikwezi R13.96-million and Nxuba R46.79-million.
The main towns affected are Aliwal North, Burgersdorp, Steynsburg, Jansenville, Adelaide and Bedford.
Earlier this month Eskom started disconnecting the towns at different intervals for nine hours a day.
Power was cut from 6am to 9am; noon-2pm‚ and 5pm to 9pm.
Premier Phumulo Masualle’s government made a part payment which prevented further cuts until this morning.
Xasa said after their engagements with the affected municipalities earlier this month, R7-million “was sourced” from Maletswai, R2-million from Nxuba and R300000 from Ikwezi.
Xasa said his department also paid a bailout of R15-million, which seems to have not been enough to prevent further cuts.
“When we were negotiating with Eskom on this, we were told in order to prevent such disconnections, we needed to pay a substantial amount towards settling the more than R160-million debt.
“We had planned to pay R10-million now, and a further R40-million by the end of March before we completely settled this debt burden in the new financial year. After negotiations, we settled on paying R15-million.
“However, when we made that R15-million payment, which we thought was a substantial amount, we were informed by Eskom that it was not enough and that if we did not make a further R55-million payment by December 30, they would continue with the disconnections,” said Xasa.
The MEC said although they had asked the municipalities to make further payments before month end, he was doubtful that they would find R55-million before deadline.
“This is a big decision that cannot be made by my department alone.
“We still have to take our payment proposal to the executive council which will sit some time in January. Hence we asked for the extension.
“Through the engagements, it became clear that the December 30 deadline was unrealistic, and our plea for a postponement was falling on deaf ears.
“However, we continue with engagements and will see if they go ahead with these power cuts,” Xasa said.
Eskom spokesman Zama Mpondwana yesterday confirmed today’s deadline.
Although negotiations were ongoing, he said: “The disconnection of the municipalities may resume if current negotiations are not successful.”
Masualle said the non-payment was a result of “poor management and mismanagement of finances”, issues he said needed to be fixed before the municipalities could go forward. — asandan@dispatch.co.za
Pay Eskom or no power
Failure to pay by the end of today will result in further mass blackouts in the affected municipalities.
The provincial government this week revealed they were struggling to raise the cash and pleaded with Eskom for an extension to the end of January – a plea the province said had fallen on deaf ears.
Eskom, owed R170-million by the municipalities of Maletswai, Gariep, Nxuba and Ikwezi, had been switching them off for nine hours a day for a few days before the Bhisho government intervened.
The province managed to keep the lights on over Christmas while arranging to pay Eskom – but today is the deadline for payment.
Speaking to Daily Dispatch yesterday, cooperative governance and traditional affairs MEC Fikile Xasa said they were trying to convince Eskom to be lenient and grant a month-long extension.
The four municipalities buy bulk electricity from Eskom and sell it to their residents.
Gariep owes Eskom R42.96-million, Maletswai R64.98-million, Ikwezi R13.96-million and Nxuba R46.79-million.
The main towns affected are Aliwal North, Burgersdorp, Steynsburg, Jansenville, Adelaide and Bedford.
Earlier this month Eskom started disconnecting the towns at different intervals for nine hours a day.
Power was cut from 6am to 9am; noon-2pm‚ and 5pm to 9pm.
Premier Phumulo Masualle’s government made a part payment which prevented further cuts until this morning.
Xasa said after their engagements with the affected municipalities earlier this month, R7-million “was sourced” from Maletswai, R2-million from Nxuba and R300000 from Ikwezi.
Xasa said his department also paid a bailout of R15-million, which seems to have not been enough to prevent further cuts.
“When we were negotiating with Eskom on this, we were told in order to prevent such disconnections, we needed to pay a substantial amount towards settling the more than R160-million debt.
“We had planned to pay R10-million now, and a further R40-million by the end of March before we completely settled this debt burden in the new financial year. After negotiations, we settled on paying R15-million.
“However, when we made that R15-million payment, which we thought was a substantial amount, we were informed by Eskom that it was not enough and that if we did not make a further R55-million payment by December 30, they would continue with the disconnections,” said Xasa.
The MEC said although they had asked the municipalities to make further payments before month end, he was doubtful that they would find R55-million before deadline.
“This is a big decision that cannot be made by my department alone.
“We still have to take our payment proposal to the executive council which will sit some time in January. Hence we asked for the extension.
“Through the engagements, it became clear that the December 30 deadline was unrealistic, and our plea for a postponement was falling on deaf ears.
“However, we continue with engagements and will see if they go ahead with these power cuts,” Xasa said.
Eskom spokesman Zama Mpondwana yesterday confirmed today’s deadline.
Although negotiations were ongoing, he said: “The disconnection of the municipalities may resume if current negotiations are not successful.”
Masualle said the non-payment was a result of “poor management and mismanagement of finances”, issues he said needed to be fixed before the municipalities could go forward. — asandan@dispatch.co.za
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