Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says the government is preparing to cooperate with municipalities who owe Eskom to assist pay off the debt.
This comes after the Ditsobotla Municipality in the North West’s energy was cut off for more than five weeks due to an R5 million debt to the power utility.
Ramokgopa stated that Ditsobotla was one of numerous municipalities which owed Eskom.
“At the last count, it was R62 billion, and we did indicate that last time it was R4.2 billion, and it continues to grow.” And there’s simply no chance of this municipality initially paying off its debt because of the deterioration of its revenue base.”
Ramokgopa stated that because some of these municipalities owed so much money, it is unlikely that they will be able to pay off the entire debt.