ESKOM chief executive Andre de Ruyter yesterday defended himself as the country was dealing with rolling blackouts. The power utility hit back at political parties and other entities accusing it of sabotaging their operations. De Ruyter said Eskom was busy with its challenges, as it was dealing with load shedding.
De Ruyter distanced himself from claims that he was playing into factions in the ANC. We implemented Stage 4 load shedding to protect systems as it is best international practice,” Eskom chief operations officer Jan Oberholzer said.
“The reduction in Soweto debt is mainly due to the write-off of prescribed debt of R5.3bn and write-back of non-compliant in duplum (double the amount) interest of R3.3bn,” Eskom states in its 2020/21 annual report released this week.
Eskom has promised to deliver on its municipal debt management strategy and pursue active partnering agreements to slow the growth in debt arrears, and to leverage its relationship with the government and the power utility’s political task team, to achieve sustainable solutions to the recovery of municipal and Soweto arrears debt.
The top 20 defaulting municipalities account for 81% of total arrears municipal debt of R35.3bn, with more than 38% owed by municipalities in the Free State.
By the end of March, there were 47 municipalities with total arrears debt of more than R100m each.
According to Eskom, this has grown considerably during recent years and demonstrates the pervasive nature of the problem.
Eskom stated that although arrears municipal debt has grown rapidly over the past few years, Soweto’s debt has increased at a slower rate.
Soweto power consumers comprised tens of thousands of residential customers, it was a much greater challenge to manage and collect individual outstanding amounts, compared to the few hundred municipal customers.
The Eskom board has granted its management approval to engage with the City of Johannesburg for the proposed transfer of customers in Eskom’s licensed areas of supply, including Soweto and Sandton, to City Power.
“Negotiations have commenced; the Soweto debt balance, regulatory processes, as well as social, human resource and financial implications, are being considered,” Eskom said. Soweto residents’ troubles with Eskom have led to several protests over the years and have resulted in them demanding to pay a R100 monthly fee for electricity.
Source: IOL
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