Rustenburg - The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Monday said it could not allow the Tlokwe local municipality to carry the Ventersdorp local municipality's Eskom debt of R49 million.
“The Ventersdorp local municipality is expected to pay R49,478,502.26 to avoid power being suspended in Ventersdorp, Tshing township and three villages, Boikhutsong, Boikhutso and Appeldraai,” said Juanita Terblanche, the party's Tlokwe constituency head. Terblanche said what was even more alarming was the fact that the collection rate in Ventersdorp was very low and due to under spending, additional funding from government was being held back. The council had failed to honour its payback agreement with Eskom.
“Tlokwe has a 91 percent service payment record and does not owe Eskom any money. This again emphasizes why the DA strongly resists the merger between Tlokwe and Ventersdorp,” she said.
“The Tlokwe community cannot be held responsible for bailing out a town that is down on its knees due to consistent mismanagement and poor revenue collection facilities.”
Terblanche said Tlokwe cannot afford to tap into its investments in order to help another municipality get on its feet.
“Tlokwe will have to use at least 23 percent of their investments to pay Ventersdorp's Eskom account,” she said.
Terblanche said the DA would request Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan to pay the amount owed to Eskom from the Ventersdorp municipality's equitable share. The DA opposed the merger of Tlokwe and Ventersdorp stating it would be a financial burden to Potchefstroom ratepayers. The party approached the court in an attempt to stop the merger but lost.
The South African National Civic organisation (Sanco) called on municipalities to settle Eskom debts to avoid interruption of bulk electricity supply.
“Communities should not be victimised or suffer inconvenience caused either by alleged maladministration or failure of municipalities to settle outstanding debts due to Eskom,” said national spokesperson, Jabu Mahlangu said.
“Implementing regulated interruptions and disconnections will leave consumers with no option but to demand direct electricity sales from Eskom to eliminate the risk associated with purchase of electricity through municipalities.”
The Madibeng local municipality said last week it would be able to settle its electricity debt amounting to R22m by the end of this month. The municipality said it had already paid half of the outstanding amount.
African News Agency
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