The towns in the municipality, including Parys and Vredefort, have not had power for almost three days, including the entire weekend, after overloading on the Ngwathe electrical network tripped and damaged Eskom’s equipment on Friday 1 July 2022.

According to Eskom spokesperson, Stefanie Jansen van Rensburg, Eskom has warned Ngwathe since 2018 that their continued exceedance of their Notified Maximum Demand (NMD) - the contracted amount of electricity supplied by Eskom to the municipality – will eventually result in damage to the Eskom network and that the municipality needs to apply for an upgrade in their NMD. The municipality is yet to respond to OFM News' inquiry.

After waiting for this promised payment of R1.1 million from the Ngwathe Local Municipality, Eskom is pleased to confirm that the payment was finally received Monday morning.

“In August 2021 and in April 2022, Eskom informed the municipality that any damage to the Eskom network that is caused by the municipality’s negligence, will be at the municipality’s cost. The municipality agreed to this condition and, although they were well informed and aware of the risks, they did not take the necessary precautions or made sufficient efforts to upgrade their NMD, Jansen van Rensburg adds.

The Free State municipalities’ debt to the ailing power utility Eskom is allegedly continuing to grow as current accounts are not paid in full. The municipality owes Eskom R1.89 billion.

The municipality’s alleged 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.

OFM News