Johannesburg - The South African Local Government Association (Salga) has expressed its willingness to work with Eskom in the supply of electricity to consumers.
This comes a few months after Eskom’s suggestion that it was considering bypassing municipalities and directly charging consumers for electricity.
This was part of Eskom’s plan to cut its huge R8 billion debt owed by municipalities.
In its annual report before Parliament, Salga said it had struck an agreement with Eskom on the supply of electricity to consumers.
A few months back, Eskom’s acting chief executive, Brian Molefe, told Parliament they were toying with the idea of cutting municipalities off the distribution network and to directly charge customers.
This proposal by Eskom was set to hurt municipalities as they generate most of their revenue from electricity.
In its report, Salga said a compromise would have to be found on the distribution of electricity to consumers.
“On electricity matters, Salga engaged Eskom concerning a framework agreement which would cover all municipalities in whose area Eskom reticulates electricity, and serve as a measure towards preparing for service delivery agreements,” said Salga.
“However, instead of a framework, Salga and Eskom agreed to enter into a memorandum of understanding to address the various industry and operational challenges within the sector,” it said.
They signed the agreement last October, where they agreed to work together in the distribution of electricity to consumers across the sector.
On Friday, Salga’s executive director for municipal infrastructure services, Jean de la Harpe, said the issue of electricity distribution would have to be resolved.
She said municipalities had the power and authority in terms of the law and the constitution to provide basic services, including water and electricity.
It was within the responsibility of municipalities to ensure they continue to provide these services.
De la Harpe said it wasn’t Eskom’s prerogative to supply electricity to the end users, but that of municipalities.
She said Eskom had a licence to provide electricity, as it is granted such licence by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa. As a service provider, Eskom can enter into a service delivery agreement with whoever it was providing electricity to.
POLITICAL BUREAU
THE STAR