Eskom restores power to defaulting munis

Eskom restored power to four Eastern Cape municipalities after millions of rand in outstanding debt was paid into the utility’s bank account.

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Cape Town – Eskom restored power to four Eastern Cape municipalities on Tuesday after millions of rand in outstanding debt was paid into the utility’s bank account, the parastatal said.

Eskom cut power to the Gariep‚ Maletswai‚ Ikwezi and Nxuba municipalities between 6am and 9 am on Tuesday due to the non-payment of debt totalling R173 million.

After the provincial government intervened and ensured a “substantial payment” was deposited into the Eskom account, the utility agreed to suspend the power cuts, for now.

Eskom spokesman Khulu Phasiwe would not disclose the exact amount paid to the utility, but said it ran into millions of rand, adding that the agreement included that another payment be made at the end of the month.

“We’ll hold them to that agreement. The ball is now in their court,” Phasiwe said.

Should the next payment not reflect in Eskom’s bank account by December 31, residents of the four municipalities would again be subjected to planned outages during peak hours (between 6am and 9am, between 12pm and 2pm, and between 5pm and 9pm).

African News Agency

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