Eskom has cut electricity to five municipalities in the Northern Cape, including Renosterberg, with the possibility of further cut-offs in other provinces.
What has been an ongoing issue with municipalities not paying their Eskom bills has now been resolved with – no power – and many other municipalities will follow.
Well – at least they are not experiencing load shedding – they have now shed that load.
That these municipalities are not paying what is owed to the “utility” is a clear indication that they do not have the necessary credit recovery plans in place to prevent these cut-offs, as provided for in section 96 (b) of the Local Government Municipal Systems Act, 32 of 2000.
The DA has jumped on the so-called band wagon and say it will appeal the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Des van Rooyen, to summon the defaulting municipalities to appear before the Portfolio Committee to present their Credit Control and Debt Collection policies.
These unpaid bills are largely attributable to unacceptably poor financial management (why are we not surprised?), maladministration (ditto!) and fiscal irresponsibility of the respective municipal managers in the ANC-governed municipalities.
The DA says this “simply cannot be that residents should suffer the consequences of corrupt and financially malfeasant municipal managers”. But they are….
Well, municipal mall-administrative buildings should have their power cut off, but electricity is an essential service, and for that reason, residents should not be made to suffer for the failings of ANC municipal managers who are not maintaining proper financial controls.
The DA says Minister van Rouyen should immediately:
- impose a recovery plan on the affected municipalities; or
- assume responsibility for the financial administration of these municipalities.
The DA further calls on the Minister to meet with his Provincial Members of the Executive Council to take immediate steps to assist each municipality and metro before residents are left without electricity for long periods of time.
“It is the Minister’s Constitutional duty, according to Section 139(7) of the Constitution, to intervene should the provincial executive not adequately exercise its powers or perform its functions, such as basic service delivery, says the DA.
Government cannot allow Eskom to punish every single resident in the affected municipalities – those residents who did pay and those who are supplied services from the municipality’s equitable share, should be protected.
DA-governed municipalities have a clean track record of paying what is owed to utilities. This is a clear demonstration that good service delivery can be achieved through good, clean and effective governance.
