Gauteng Co-operative, Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC, Lebogang Maile, says the Vaal-based Emfuleni Local Municipality has agreed to pay Eskom R50 million by the end of business on Tuesday.
The municipality’s assets were attached by Eskom last week because it owes the power utility a R2.3 billion electricity bill.
Maile says two other Gauteng municipalities, Randwest and Merafong Municipalities that owe Eskom are facing a crisis.
Maile met with Eskom Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Andre de Ruyter, in Johannesburg earlier on Tuesday.
De Ruyter says they’ve agreed to suspend attaching Emfuleni’s assets upon Eskom receiving the R50 million that the municipality has promised to pay.
Randwest and Merafong municipalities owe Eskom R355 million and R377 million in electricity debt, respectively. De Ruyter says they too will have their assets attached if they fail to pay their debts.
He says the historical debt does not disappear and needs to be paid. De Ruyter says where debt is due to Eskom they will aggressively go after those who don’t pay because Eskom has lenders knocking on their door.
In this video, Eskom says it is ramping up efforts to collect debt for services rendered:
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