Eskom strikes

Eskom has attached Emfuleni Municipality’s bank accounts to recover R8 billion in arrear debt after the municipality failed to comply with the debt relief program.

Eskom said it notified the National Treasury and Emfuleni Municipality on 2 July 2024 that there are issues with the municipality.

It said Emfuleni is no longer a beneficiary of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) 124 Debt Relief program due to multiple breaches.

“Consequently, the Sheriff of the Court has successfully attached Emfuleni’s four bank accounts to ensure that the money collected for electricity is paid directly to Eskom,” it said.

The municipality failed to comply with the requirements of the National Treasury debt relief program.

The attachment of the bank accounts allows Eskom to receive payment for the electricity it supplies, ensuring continued service to the municipality’s customers.

Eskom said it exhausted all legal and mediation avenues to secure payment for services rendered since 2018.

The power utility said collecting municipal debt is a key focus and that it would employ various strategies to recover owed funds.

The money is needed to enable investment in maintaining and strengthening electricity supply, fostering socio-economic growth, and reducing the need for load-shedding.

“Eskom cannot financially sustain the electricity debt of the municipality without severely impacting its own operations and the citizens of the country,” it said.

“The municipality’s failure to pay for bulk electricity compromises Eskom’s financial stability and ability to provide affordable electricity.”

As of 31 August 2024, Emfuleni owed R8,052,093,269.36 for bulk electricity. This amount represents around 10% of the total R82 billion municipalities owe.

Municipal debt remains one of Eskom’s biggest challenges. As of the end of March 2024, municipal arrears stood at around R74.4 billion.

This represented an increase of approximately R15.9 billion during the last financial year from 1 April 2023 to 30 March 2024.