Municipalities face electricity debt crisis as R400 billion owed
Minister of Electricity and Energy Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has revealed that municipalities across the country are collectively owed
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Minister of Electricity and Energy Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has revealed that municipalities across the country are collectively owed more than R400 billion by consumers.
The Minister warned that the growing inability of households, businesses, and institutions to pay for services is leaving municipalities financially paralysed, contributing directly to Eskom’s revenue losses and ongoing load reduction measures.
"Municipalities collectively owe Eskom just above R 100 billion. But another very, very important figure is that municipalities collectively are owed in return by customers over R400 billion. So that's the scale and the proportions of the problem," Ramokgopa said in an interview with Newzroom Afrika.
He added that this financial imbalance was at the heart of the electricity supply challenges facing the country.
"The underlying problem is that municipalities are not viable economic spaces. So we need to get the economy going,”.
Ramokgopa further stressed that load reduction policies often unfairly impact those who pay their bills on time, while those who evade payments or connect illegally continue to consume electricity unchecked.
“The biggest casualties of load reduction is the people who are paying. They are paying and yet they are subjected to load reduction because either municipalities or Eskom are unable to address the delinquent,” he said.
To tackle this, Ramokgopa outlined government plans to install prepaid smart meters, allowing remote disconnection of non-paying users without punishing compliant consumers.
"Now the rollout of smart meters was able to remotely disconnect those who are responsible for non-payment without punishing those who are indigent.
"So part of the solution is that we roll out this platform of smart meters and it allows us that agility to be able to remotely disconnect an individual user. You might be connected to the same transformer, but we go for the one that's not there".
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