Eskom to cut power to F State municipalities
Three Free State municipalities will no longer receive electricity supply from Eskom until they make a plan to pay back their R736 million debt, the power utility said on Thursday.
Ngwathe, Dihlabeng and Maluti-a-Phofung municipalities' power supply would be cut off at noon on Friday, spokesperson Anthony Stott said.
"Not only have they not come up with a plan in the next six to 18 months, the problem is they also haven't been paying their current bills."
He said from July, some of the municipalities' bills were either paid partially, or not at all.
The power supply would remain suspended until the municipalities came up with a payment plan that was agreeable with the utility.
"It is a last resort for Eskom. We have had agreements with other municipalities."
He said Eskom gave the municipalities notices in May, and that interventions and negotiations had been taking place between the provincial government and the utility since then.
Stott said there had been agreements to postpone the suspension to August 31, and then again to September 30.
"There have been a lot of ongoing negotiations," Stott said.
The Democratic Alliance said it could not allow paying residents to be held responsible and threatened with suspension of services because of the incompetence of the municipalities.
"We are in the process of obtaining a legal opinion on measures we could take to prevent the disconnection of electricity supply by Eskom," DA MPL James Letuka said in a statement.
He said the province, under the premiership of Ace Magashule, was heading towards a severe financial crisis.
"Unless the provincial government adopts and implements urgent measures the province could see itself placed under administration," Letuka said.
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