Municipalities owe Eskom R110.5bn for electricity
Municipalities owed Eskom R110.5-billion by December 2025 for electricity supplied. It is a 17% increase from R94.6-billion at the end of March 2025.
This debt has risen despite Eskom and the National Treasury running a municipal debt relief programme, which requires municipalities to pay their current electricity bills before Treasury writes off historical debt. Of the 71 municipalities on the programme, only 10 were compliant with paying their current accounts, according to Eskom’s March 2026 presentation to Parliament’s portfolio committee on electricity and energy.
Eskom has taken formal steps under the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act against 14 municipalities that have not paid for electricity used over the past 18 months. If municipalities fail to act, Eskom may interrupt or limit supply proportional to any payment received.
Eskom can also enter distribution agency agreements with municipalities, installing smart meters and collecting revenue directly from customers. The reasons arrears have grown so unmanageable, according to energy analyst Sampson Mamphweli, are that municipal infrastructure is dilapidated, distribution networks go unmaintained, customers do not pay for services, and when they do, municipalities do not pass the money on to Eskom.
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