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Eskom owed over R100 million by Ulundi municipality in KZN

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The Ulundi municipality in northern KwaZulu-Natal owes Eskom over a hundred million rand in unpaid electricity bills.

During the festive season, residents and businesses in the area were left in the dark after Eskom imposed load reduction power cuts due to the unpaid bill. But the municipality attributes the exorbitant bill to electricity theft and illegal connections.

Municipal manager Sandile Khomo says they have reached an agreement with Eskom where the power utility has agreed to cancel load reduction on the basis that the municipality withdraw its court bid.

“Ulundi had a load reduction of which we learnt while it was already implemented as there was no communication or notice from Eskom which prompted us to say let us seek an urgent interdict from court. Just a day before we had a meeting with Eskom which was facilitated by CoGTA where subsequently they eventually uplifted the load reduction. It a fact we cannot deny that part of the reason is because of the community who are not paying for electricity who are connecting illegally.”

In December 2022, Eskom said the power utility will have to rely on increased support from the National Treasury in order to supplement non-payment by municipalities.

Eskom further reported a net loss of R12.3-billion for the year which ended 31 March 2022. The power utility said the financial loss is largely due to high finance costs and the usage of Open Cycle Gas Turbines to supplement generation capacity.

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