Central SA
Free State municipalities' debt to Eskom grows─── LUCKY NKUYANE 14:05 Mon, 04 Jul 2022
Free State municipalities’ account to the ailing power utility Eskom is allegedly continuing to grow as they fail to keep up with their accounts on a continuous basis.
According to Eskom, the Ngwathe Local Municipality, which also includes Parys and Vredefort, owes R1.89 billion to the power utility. Eskom’s spokesperson in the province, Stefanie Jansen van Rensburg, says this debt continues to grow as current accounts are not paid in full. She says the municipality’s non-adherence to payment conditions and negligence in protecting the power system, jeopardises Eskom’s financial sustainability as well as the security of supply to residents of towns such as Parys and Vredefort. The municipality is yet to respond to OFM News' inquiry.
According to the Auditor-General (AG) Tsakani Maluleke’s report, the municipality is amongst other municipalities which had previously made late payments to the South African Revenue Services (SARS). Maluleke said this resulted in penalties and interest but were resolved by improving payment controls to ensure that statutory payments are made in time.
She also said the Free State municipalities’ irregular expenditure increased from R7,63 billion to R9,18 billion.
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