Saturday, 25 July 2020: Following the successful attachment of the bank account belonging to the
Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality this week, Eskom and the municipality on
Friday reached an agreement to partially release some of the funds to assist
the municipality to meet its running costs. As part of this agreement, which
has been made an order of court, the parties must conclude an agreement on or
before 07 August 2020, to address the municipality’s R5.3 billion debt to Eskom
and to service its monthly current account.
Eskom has agreed to release R90 million to allow the
municipality to pay the salaries of its workforce and to meet other running
costs. The bank account currently has a balance of more than R220 million, and
was attached by Eskom on 21 July 2020 in execution of a court order granted in
2018 to help Eskom recover unpaid debt by the municipality.
The account balance will remain attached until a
repayment agreement that meets Eskom’s requirements has been concluded, or
until the court orders otherwise. This step on the part of Eskom is a result of
the repeated failures by the municipality to adhere to its payment obligations
to Eskom for the bulk supply of electricity.
Eskom will continue to explore all available legal
avenues to ensure that outstanding municipal debt is recovered.
The total outstanding municipal debt of R30.9 billion as
at end June 2020 continues to threaten Eskom’s sustainability, and
municipalities have a responsibility to fulfil their financial obligations for
the bulk supply of electricity.
ENDS