Riyaz Patel
Overdue municipal debt to Eskom increased by some R1.2bn in September to R26.4bn by the end of October, Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) heard from a joint ministerial team tasked to resolve the debts owed to the power utility.
The meeting in Parliament also included the top 20 debtors who account for 79% of the total debt.
Of these, the top 20 municipalities who owe Eskom money make up 67% of the overall council debt.
The inter-ministerial task team has met with Eskom at least 40 times since being established 2017, but the debt to Eskom has grown by R16bn.
SCOPA has decried the lack of progress in reducing the debt owed to the already troubled utility.
The last time the committee met to discuss the matter, none of the ministers in the task team showed up. This prompted the Committee to admonish the ministers, especially Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who chairs the task team.
Executive manager at the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) Kevin Naidoo told SCOPA that out of a total of 48 valid payment arrangements that Eskom had with municipalities, only 11 were being fully honoured as of October.
“The top 20 payment levels have dropped from a peak of 91% in March 2016 to 31.3% in October 2019, with virtually no payment towards the current accounts over the last 7 months,” said Naidoo.
Among the top defaulting debtors, Maluti a Phofung Local Municipality in the Free State owes a total debt of R4.5bn, R4.4bn of which is overdue.
Emalahleni Local Municipality in Mpumalanga owes a total debt of R3.3bn, R3.1bn of which is overdue.
Matjhabeng Local Municipality’s total debt stands at R2.7bn, of which R2.6bn is overdue.
