Eskom takes back threat to cut off Joburg

Eskom has withdrawn its threat to interrupt the City of Johannesburg’s electricity supply over the non-payment of R4.9 billion after Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa intervened.

During a briefing on Monday, 11 November 2024, the minister explained that he was brought in to mediate the matter following complaints from City Power about its billing from Eskom.

Johannesburg power utility City Power has committed to pay its current account of R1.4 billion, payable by the end of November 2024.

This was the amount that triggered Eskom’s threat, which it has now withdrawn.

While Eskom has withdrawn the immediate threat of implementing power supply interruptions in the City of Johannesburg, the issue of what is owed still needs to be addressed.

To achieve this, Ramokgopa proposed using an independent person to evaluate what Eskom claims is owed to it and what the City of Johannesburg believes it owes.

The independent person will be supervised by a technician from the opposing utility and City Power has 14 days to confirm what it owes to Eskom, giving it until 25 November.

“It is in our collective interest that we find a way of resolving this matter in a manner that is sustainable, enduring, and precedent-setting,” said Ramokgopa.

“The challenge that is confronting us here in Johannesburg is emblematic of the challenges that we are faced with across the municipal sphere of government.”

“Municipalities are finding it increasingly difficult to meet their obligations as a result of a revenue base that is contracting, partly because of the underperformance of the economy and also as a result of the haemorrhaging of skills at a local government level,” the minister added.

He also listed several other key causes, including the inability to ensure completeness of billing, the failure to ensure customers are billed accurately, and ineffective credit control measures.

However, there is a silver lining to the issue, with Ramokgopa indicating that once established, a sustainable solution will be exported to municipalities in other parts of the country.

“From the Johannesburg resolution, we’ll find a template that can be exported to other parts of the country, and we can find a much more enduring way of resolving this matter,” the minister said.

Eskom issued a notice of intention to implement power supply interruptions to the City of Johannesburg and City Power at pre-determined times of the day on Thursday, 7 November 2024.

“The City of Johannesburg (CoJ) and/or City Power currently owe Eskom an amount of R4.9 billion, excluding the current account of a further R1.4 billion which will become due and payable at the end of November 2024,” it said.

The state-owned power utility said it has considered various avenues to accommodate the City of Johannesburg but can no longer afford to oblige the metro without straining its finances further.

“In terms of the Constitution and the Intergovernmental Relations Framework, the CoJ is supposed to cooperate and assist Eskom with fulfilling its mandate of ensuring that citizens have access to affordable electricity,” said Eskom.

“The CoJ has breached these obligations by not paying Eskom for the bulk electricity it supplies, making it almost impossible for Eskom to fulfil its mandate.”

City Power fired back several hours later, demanding that Eskom withdraw the threat of power supply interruptions.

“We are deeply concerned by Eskom’s recent public notice announcing its intention to interrupt the electricity supply to the city,” it and the City of Johannesburg said in a joint statement.

“The city strongly condemns this move as unjust, counterproductive, and potentially harmful to the residents and businesses of Johannesburg.”

It added that ongoing disputes regarding Eskom overbilling City Power to the amount of R3.4 billion.

“The city has repeatedly raised concerns about this continued overbilling, which Eskom has failed to address, placing additional strain on the city’s resources,” it said.