The town of Newcastle and Eskom are embroiled in a legal showdown over R200-million in debt. The utility has issued a final notice threatening to cut electricity supply to the KwaZulu-Natal municipality but Newcastle’s obtained an interim court order to keep the lights on.
It was once a thriving mining town, strategically located as a gateway between KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Gauteng, now it’s on the verge of bankruptcy. The ailing Newcastle municipality is adjusting its budget to try service its ballooning Eskom debt but this is likely to come at a cost to other services.
Ntuthuko Mahlaba, the Newcastle mayor said, “what caused a delay was that we had to go through budget adjustments and try to cut certain things from the budget to make sure that we have an affordable payment plan.
Residents and business owners are concerned. Newcastle Residents Interim Committee representative, Mdu Mnisi said, “it has become too expensive for Newcastle businesses to afford to run the business on a regular basis.”
“That’s why you find that most of the business are retrenching to try and meet the utility bills. At the rate that we are going most businesses will be shutting down in Newcastle, hoping that something happens quickly before this town becomes a ghost town.”
Eskom declined to comment, saying the matter is before the court. Both parties are due back in court on Thursday.
In other news – Somizi and Mohale’s wedding planner Maureen Skosana reveals all the big-day secrets
When it came to executing their dream wedding love-birds, Somizi Mhlongo and Mohale Motaung spared no expense and hired one of the country’s top event coordinators to make their special day a memorable one. Channel24 spoke to events coordinator to the stars Maureen “Nono” Skosana, about what went into pulling off the most extravagant and opulent wedding of 2019.
Maureen, who goes by the nickname Nono, studied law and practised for 15 years until her passion and love of parties and extravagance grew beyond simply a hobby. What started as a part-time business, soon escalated to a full-time operation in 2012, when she could no longer juggle a law career and flourishing events coordinating business. Read more
Source: eNCA
