Eskom’s threat to cut the Ekurhuleni Metro’s power supply due to non-payment should not be taken lightly and the Metro should urgently engage with Eskom to prevent it.
The FF Plus notes the statement issued by Ekurhuleni reassuring residents that there is no immediate danger of Eskom cutting the power supply. The party, however, does not share the Metro’s apparent misplaced optimism.
This past weekend, Eskom published a public notice in the Saturday Star announcing its intention to either cut the power supply to certain parts of the Metro, to implement load reduction, or to cut the Metro’s entire power supply on 27 March.
According to the Metro, it has not received any formal correspondence from Eskom in this regard. This does not make the threat any less serious, though. Ekurhuleni’s history of non-payment is nothing new.
According to the Eskom notice, the Metro owes Eskom R2,3 billion in historical debt and another R1,5 billion on its current account, which is due on 7 March.
In the notice, Eskom invites all interested parties as well as residents to make submissions on or before 18 March as to why the power supply should not be suspended.
It is unacceptable that Ekurhuleni’s loyal taxpayers could become the victims of the Metro’s incompetence and failure to pay for an essential service.
The FF Plus insists that the Metro should play open cards about its Eskom debt with political parties and residents, and that it immediately starts negotiating with the power utility to remedy the situation.
One of the main problems is that the Metro uses the money it receives from residents for power to cover other expenses, instead of paying it to Eskom.
The FF Plus will continue to put pressure on the Metro to communicate openly and act responsibly.
In addition, effective measures should be implemented to ensure that Ekurhuleni does not face an actual bulk power supply outage in the future.
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