Power Utility Eskom announced that it is considering disconnecting power supply to the City of Tshwane as one of the necessary steps to secure the outstanding payment.
Eskom said Tshwane had only paid R68 million for the July invoice, due on 17 August 2022.
In a statement Eskom said: “The power utility had numerous engagements with the city of Tshwane’s management to ensure that the city paid its account. Nevertheless, these actions have not yielded any results as the city has continued with the same pattern. The inconsistent payments are both untenable and unacceptable since Eskom’s financial position is well known. The City’s persistent failure to honour its payments places a huge burden on Eskom to continue providing it with electricity.”
Eskom indicated that it will continue applying different approaches including cutting power supply in order to recover money owed to it, and has informed the MEC of Corporative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Lebogang Maile, about the risks associated with the late payment of the City of Tshwane’s electricity account.
In June, the City of Tshwane also ran into cash flow problems, paying its account in a staggered manner. But this month, Eskom demanded full payment on the due date.
Customers are given only 15 days to make payment and consumers are given 30 days to pay, they usually have to bridge the gap between collections and payments to Eskom through reserves.
“We do pay every month, we just pay late. The local payment’s system gives customers 30 days. Many of them have stretched this to 60 in the belief that the council allows them an additional 30-day leeway. With us not having cash reserves, it is difficult. The long-term solution is more prepaid metres. For now, it is a tough one but bit we are working on it,” said Peter Sutton, the Member of the Mayoral Council.
Source: The Citizen, Fin24, Moneyweb, image from The Citizen: Gallo Images