Mpumalanga municipalities’ Eskom debt has shockingly escalated from R990 million to R7 billion within a space of three years.
In December 2016 the debt was R990 million. By February 2019 it stood at R5 billion. It shockingly increased seven-fold in the last three years to over R7 billion as of 31 July 2019. In addition, for the month of July the interest on this Eskom account was R1 billion.
Below are the main contributors to this amount:
eMalahleni – R3 091 652 408
Govan Mbeki – R1 374 474 315
Lekwa – R910 752 811
Thaba Chweu – R643 506 115
City of Mbombela – R335 272 05
Some of these municipalities previously received threats from Eskom that their electricity supply will be cut off or restricted.
A few months ago the province experienced blackouts lasting up to six hours a day which has forced some businesses to close their doors – threatening job security. This adds to the 32% unemployment rate in the province.
Some of the Province’s departments directly contribute to the Eskom debt which is owed by municipalities.
Provincial government departments like Health, Public Works, Education, Culture, Sport and Recreation have been identified as culprits who owed Mpumalanga municipalities billions of rands by not paying for basic services delivered to them.
If Premier Mtshweni-Tsipane and her administration were serious and had an actual plan to address the province’s Eskom crisis; she would be forcing her departments to pay municipalities for services rendered. Otherwise businesses like the Thaba Chweu Chamber of Commerce and eMalahleni Resilient Properties Propriety would not have had to turn to the courts to keep the lights on in both municipalities.
Early this year the Gauteng High Court ruled in favour of the Thaba Chweu Chamber of Commerce and the eMalahleni Resilient Properties Propriety against Eskom. The court set aside Eskom’s “catastrophic” decision to interrupt power supply in eMalahleni and Thaba Chweu because of unpaid accounts.
Premier Mtshweni must take the blame for allowing her departments to continue looting municipal coffers at the expense of the people of Mpumalanga.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) will write to both Premier Mtshweni-Tsipane and CoGTA MEC Mandla Msibi, requesting a meeting on how they are going to deal with the Eskom debt and also consider placing many of these municipalities under administration as the provincial intervention proved futile.
Only a DA-led government can fix the country’s power utility problems. We would intervene in the struggling municipalities and fight the corruption that has collapsed the delivery of basic services.