(1) (a) Eskom has issued nine public notifications of partial disconnection of electricity supply by 31 December 2015. (b) There are no municipalities that have received notices from the Waterboards due to non-payment.
(ii)The following municipalities are affected have been issued with disconnection notices by Eskom. The detailed breakdown of debt owed by each is illustrated in the table below:
PROVINCE |
MUNICIPALITY |
TOTAL DEBT OWED R’000 (Million) |
Eastern Cape |
Gariep |
R56.8 |
Maletswai |
R59.2 |
|
Nxuba |
R43 |
|
Ikwezi |
R13.9 |
|
Northern Cape |
Kha-ima |
R5.7 |
Dikgatlong |
R23.1 |
|
Ubuntu |
R16.8 |
|
Thembelihle |
R22.7 |
|
Magareng |
R17.5 |
(iii) Aligned to the approach taken by the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, (COGTA) Public Enterprises (DPE) and SALGA, Eskom in conjunction with the national task team is visiting affected municipalities, as well as those that were disconnected in December 2015 and January 2016. The objective is to assess the challenges faced by the municipalities and provide Eskom with the opportunity to enter into sustainable payment arrangements.
(2) I have not yet considered an intervention in the defaulting municipalities, in terms of section 139(5) of the Constitution, the power to intervene in municipalities rests with the relevant provincial executives. It is only when a provincial executive cannot or does not adequately exercise the powers or perform the functions referred to in subsection (5) that the national executive is permitted to intervene in a municipality.