In just little over a month from now, Eskom is going to interrupt electricity to eMalahleni Local Municipality – again.
Earlier this year, Eskom implemented scheduled electricity interruptions due to eMalahleni local municipality not paying their Eskom account. The account to date, has accumulated to over R1-bilion, and since the first agreements to repay Eskom, this account has still not been settled, or for that matter reduced. In fact, it has only escalated to an even higher amount.
Should Eskom proceed with the electricity interruptions from 20 November 2017, this would be devastating to households and local businesses. It will also affect services like water supply to households and businesses, sewerage, hospitals and many more critical services within the municipality. The effect that it will have on the local municipal economy would also be noticeable as residents should now fork out extra cash to implement measures to reduce the negative effect of the planned electricity interruptions. Fuel for generators, the procurement of generators, surge protection, inverters, batteries, and the list goes on – these are just some of the measures people will have to take to keep their lights on when Eskom does not supply the municipality with electricity.
Eskom might implement these interruptions indefinitely, until the municipality has settled their outstanding account with Eskom. But fortunately, some organizations have taken it upon themselves to oppose this interruptions. Johan Coetzee from Johan Coetzee Incorporated, who on behalf of the community, is taking this matter further by making use of all of its legal avenues, all on their own costs. He urges the community to submit letters to him where the community can raise their concerns about the impact the electricity interruptions will have on them and their businesses. You can submit your letter to action@saveemalahleni.org OR info@ccatt.co.za. You can also follow this link for more information: https://t.e2ma.net/webview/xdp1pc/60e843036313408b3349395338ddbc04
It is very unfortunate that the law-abiding, utility-paying residents of eMalahleni should bear the brunt of an ailing Municipality who has failed to fulfill its constitutional obligations to the community who are in desperate need to save this town of ours from total ruin.
Do your part today, and submit your letters and explain why Eskom should not cut the power to the municipality. Let us all hope that Eskom will consider the impact its decisions will have on the community and would refrain from implementing electricity interruptions.
The proposed schedule for power interruptions are as follows:
- Monday’s to Friday’s from: 06h00 – 10h00 & 17h00 – 21h00
- Saturday’s and Sunday’s from: 08h00 – 11h00 & 15h00 – 17h30
Please do note: TechStudio (PTY) Ltd are not affiliated to any party mentioned in this article, nor would we promote and support any political opinion expressed by community members. If you would like to comment on this article, please refrain from any political involvement, racial or gender discriminating, foul language and any defamatory comments. Comments will be moderated by TechStudio blog administrators.
As a prepaid customer It is not fair to people like us that have paid for eletricity before we use it and now we must suffer due to the municipality not paying.
Fully agree with you Sudhir. Hopefully the community response to the attorneys will be successful and that Eskom will rethink the way they would recover the funds. Let us hope for the best.