Eskom ordered to keep Musina's lights on
The North Gauteng High Court on Tuesday ruled in favour of business organisation Sakeliga to interdict Eskom from interrupting electricity supply after Musina and other municipalities failed to settle their debts.
"The first respondent be interdicted and restrained from implementing it's decision to interrupt or discontinue the electricity supply to the second respondent," read the court order.
The matter was heard unopposed.
Sakeliga CEO Piet Le Roux said paying customers could not be punished because of the municipality’s failure to make payments to Eskom.
"Sakeliga cannot allow paying electricity users’ power supply to be cut simply because one arm of the state, a local municipality, does not pay what it owes another arm of the state, Eskom," Le Roux said.
He said Eskom’s decision to interrupt electricity supply to Musina and other local municipalities was unacceptable and affected local economies.
"An economic catastrophe is unfolding in local communities, and in addition, local business people are incurring huge costs to stop these power interruptions."
Le Roux said the minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs, Zweli Mkhize, announced in parliament that municipal debt to Eskom had increased from R13,6 billion to R17-billion in six months this year.
"This is a national crisis, and interrupting the power supply to local economies is not going to solve the problem," Le Roux said.
He said Sakeliga is intervening to establish the necessary principles to find a general, workable solution.
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