Joburg citizens and businesses caught in crossfire of City Power, Eskom conflict

Daniel Puchert

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Caught in a R6.3 billion battle

Eskom's threat to cut off Joburg's power for incurring R4.9 billion in debt and running up a R1.4 billion current account highlights the city's maladministration, with its citizens and small businesses caught in the crossfire.

This is according to the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse's (Outa) executive director and advocate, Stephanie Fick, who spoke to 702 following Eskom's statement that there will be power cuts if Joburg fails to settle its debt.
 
Cut off Eskom balls, make electricity free open market for anyone willing to replace them.
 
Eskom is the problem here? what did I miss on this one?
Yes and no. Eskom are the ones that made electricity unaffordable. City Power are the ones that don't do anything about the ones stealing it.
 
Caught in a R6.3 billion battle

Eskom's threat to cut off Joburg's power for incurring R4.9 billion in debt and running up a R1.4 billion current account highlights the city's maladministration, with its citizens and small businesses caught in the crossfire.

This is according to the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse's (Outa) executive director and advocate, Stephanie Fick, who spoke to 702 following Eskom's statement that there will be power cuts if Joburg fails to settle its debt.
For the record, I am caught in said "crossfire".
 
Eskom is the problem here? what did I miss on this one?

They allowed it to get to this point. Should have put their foot down long time ago. The blame actually starts with the ANC looting Eskom. The municipalities is just as useless as all of them. Monkey see monkey do.
 
Eskom is the problem here? what did I miss on this one?

Nuance is irrelevant at this point.
They should ALL go straight into the woodchipper.

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It's the perfect example of a synergistic f** up.
All the little f**ups by everyone involved add up to a big f** up that's bigger than the sum of its parts.
 
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Yes and no. Eskom are the ones that made electricity unaffordable. City Power are the ones that don't do anything about the ones stealing it.
But this isn't a new thing. I understand the price increases are a problem, but the CoJ passes this bill onto the consumers. They do not subsidize the consumer as far as I know rather they add their own costs of maintaining their infrastructure to the bill. They need to install prepaid meters everywhere, to atleast curb this, if that will even help.
 
But this isn't a new thing. I understand the price increases are a problem, but the CoJ passes this bill onto the consumers. They do not subsidize the consumer as far as I know rather they add their own costs of maintaining their infrastructure to the bill. They need to install prepaid meters everywhere, to atleast curb this, if that will even help.
I'm guessing the theft levels are through the roof now thanks to Eskom so the city isn't getting paid for their consumption but all the city does is stick their thumb up their arse. I doubt the solution is to spend more money.
 
They allowed it to get to this point. Should have put their foot down long time ago. The blame actually starts with the ANC looting Eskom. The municipalities is just as useless as all of them. Monkey see monkey do.
What you talking about? this is not first time. I recall Eskom cutting electricity some years back, then the government stepped in, which will probably happen again.
 
What you talking about? this is not first time. I recall Eskom cutting electricity some years back, then the government stepped in, which will probably happen again.

How long has ANC been in power and when did the municipalities stop paying Eskom. This goes on for decades not a few years! Was this a problem pre ANC?
 
I'm guessing the theft levels are through the roof now thanks to Eskom so the city isn't getting paid for their consumption but all the city does is stick their thumb up their arse. I doubt the solution is to spend more money.
I think part of the solution is in seeking alternatives, but that won't resolve the non-paying.
 
So it started with the ANC and now the GNU is going to resolve this?

Where did I mentioned the GNU? According to me the ANC is still running the country and calling the shots and fcking up everything.
 



Timeline: Eskom and City of Johannesburg dispute*

  • 18 December 2023: CoJ and Eskom held a meeting to investigate allegations of overbilling. Both parties agreed that technicians would conduct meter verifications.
  • 22 December 2023: Meter verification at selected substations took place. No metering faults were detected, and City Power confirmed accuracy.
  • 30 January 2024: CoJ informed Eskom it would withhold payments due to overbilling allegations but provided no substantiation.
  • 29 February 2024: A formal dispute resolution meeting was held under the IRFA, where workstreams were created. City Power eventually opted out of this process.
  • Various dates 2024: Eskom repeatedly invited CoJ to arbitration to resolve disputes, but CoJ declined to participate, withholding payments without evidence.
  • 8 November 2024: Eskom issued a public notice on the outstanding debt and its intention to disconnect electricity supply to specific areas if payments aren’t made.
  • 14 December 2024: Scheduled date for Eskom’s potential disconnection of electricity to certain Johannesburg areas if payments remain outstanding.
  • 8 December 2024: Deadline for public submissions and comments on Eskom’s intended actions.
  • 12 December 2024: Eskom’s deadline to communicate its final decision on whether to proceed with disconnections.


If you are a COJ City Power customer you'd get no such latitude with the city.
 
What you talking about? this is not first time. I recall Eskom cutting electricity some years back, then the government stepped in, which will probably happen again.
Yeah the courts stepped in and said it was illegal. I think that was when load reduction was born. They just cut you off for most of the day, not permanently as it affects water and stuff.
 
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