Head of the Free State Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), Mokete Duma, tells OFM News that a company has been contracted to conduct an electricity audit at the municipality this week in order to ascertain what factors have compounded Maluti’s mammoth debt to Eskom which stands at close to R 3 billion. Duma says once they have determined what the problem areas are exactly they will develop a plan to curb those issues. This comes after the office of the sheriff went to the municipal offices to carry out a writ of execution obtained by Eskom for outstanding payments and also attached Maluti’s assets on March 14.

The Cogta head has, in previous interviews with OFM News, said that cable theft and vandalism of electrical stations cripple the municipality further. However in some of the cases, the municipality cannot pinpoint what is wrong exactly. Such is the case with electrical transformers at the municipality. “We have problems of transformers in Maluti-A-Phofung. They blow almost every month. We seem to be spending a lot of money replacing the transformers more often than not”, laments Duma. He adds that the municipality could be redirecting that money to other service delivery needs as opposed to repeatedly having to replace the transformers.

In early March Assistant Administrator, Solly Motingoe, said the Administrator, Moses Moremi, and the acting Municipal Manager of the troubled municipality were a part of a meeting with Cogta Minister, Mosebenzi Zwane, where he instructed them to hand over a list of places in the area requiring immediate intervention. According to Motingoe some of the areas they have selected for immediate intervention include Thaba Bosiu, Qoqolosing, Jwala Boholo, Riverside and Namahadi amongst a slew of others. This formed part of the early phases of the recovery plan which forms part of an October 2018 court order.

In October 2018 The Free State High Court ordered that Eskom’s plans to cut power supply to the Free State municipality be suspended indefinitely in accordance with an agreement made between the applicants led by the Harrismith Business Forum, and the 13 government respondents. The respondents included Eskom, Ministers of Energy, Finance, Public Enterprises and President Cyril Ramaphosa on the matter. Maluti-A-Phofung’s close to R 3 billion debt to Eskom, and the utility’s subsequent threats to cut supply, prompted the Harrismith Business Forum and thirteen other businesses to approach the courts for assistance. They said the planned interruptions threatened the future of the business community in the area. The High Court further ordered that the respondents from provincial and national government must form a “consultative committee” whose purpose is to map out a recovery plan for this municipality. This committee, which is made up of representatives from government as well as the business community in Maluti, were given a 60-day deadline to have this recovery plan mapped out and given the go ahead by Zwane.

OFM News