According to Eskom spokesperson, Stefanie Jansen Van Rensburg, the municipality, which is home to the Pooling and Sharing Joint Venture (PSJV) formed between Alexkor SOC and the Richtersveld Mining Company in 2011,
reportedly owes Eskom nearly R13 million for services rendered as of 31 August. She further stated that the municipality will after seven days begin experiencing planned power interruptions. 

This amount is much less when compared to the three other defaulting municipalities in the province. Jansen Van Rensburg tells OFM News the municipalities, which include Tsantsabane, Emthanjeni, Kamiesberg and the Richtersveld Local Municipalities, collectively owe Eskom over R280 million. The vast majority of this debt is due by Tsantsabane Local Municipality, at close to R155 million. 

Of interest, however, is that in May 2020, the former Alexkor administrator, Lloyd McPatie informed the portfolio committee on public enterprises that he found during his 6-month tenure as administrator, that a significant portion of the Alexkor’s monthly costs was attributed to the management of Alexander Bay which forms part of the Richtersveld Local Municipality.  

He said at the time that between R500 000 and R700 000 per month was being spent to provide the diamond town with water and electricity. Mc Patie went on to argue that the handover of Alexander Bay to the Richtersveld municipality was long overdue. It is yet to be determined if the handover has taken place and how this may have impacted the Richtersveld Local Municipality’s revenue.
 
Eskom acknowledges the indefinite disconnection of electricity supply will affect consumers and members of those communities in question negatively, they will, as a result, restrict electricity supply, in a phased manner as opposed to “outright” the statement reads.
 
The power utility believes this “will allow members of the community and consumers the opportunity to make alternative arrangements for the scheduled periods”. These power cuts will continue until an agreement is reached between the respective parties.
 
This comes as the Matjhabeng Local Municipality in the Free State has put up 139 of its farms as security for its mammoth R3, 4 billion debt to Eskom for services rendered.
 

OFM News