Free State Eskom’s spokesperson, Titi Makhetha, says the amount owed by municipalities has increased by R2.6 billion since August 2021. In a media statement, he adds that Eskom supplies electricity to municipalities who then sell it at a profit to customers. “Despite municipalities receiving government grants for Free Basic Electricity (FBE), their current accounts and arrear debt remain unserviced, bringing Eskom Free State to its knees.” The top three owing municipalities are the Maluti-A-Phofung, Matjhabeng and Ngwathe Local Municipalities. On average, they consume R200 million (97GWh) of energy monthly. “To date, these municipalities have brazenly increased their debt to Eskom to R13.3 billion.” The municipalities in question are;

•Maluti-A-Phofung

•Matjhabeng

•Ngwathe

•Dihlabeng

•Moqhaka

•Nala

•Mangaung

•Nketoana

•Mantsopa

•Tokologo

•Phumelela

•Mafube

•Letsemeng

•Masilonyana

•Tswelopele

ALSO READ: Final negotiation stage between MAP and Eskom nears

Electricity has been a big challenge in Maluti-A-Phofung as residents have spent days without electricity. There has previously been a council sitting to resolve its challenges with electricity. The MAP16 civic movement's head of communications, Mmutlanyana Sekete, explained that the resolution will instruct the municipality to conclude an agreement with the national power utility, Eskom. He said the process is currently in a draft stage, although it has already been agreed that Eskom will be working as an agency of the municipality. “Since we owe Eskom more than R6.7 billion, Eskom will be dealing with that debt and will hand over a portion of the collected amount to the municipality after collecting all the revenue. Part of that will be ways of settling the Eskom debt.”

ALSO READ: Electricity crisis angers Maluti-A-Phofung residents

There have previously been protests that ultimately drew the municipal leaders’ attention to public concerns, where they expressed their rage fumed by severe power cuts and poor communication. At the time, the community expressed that the electricity crisis is not only an inconvenience but also damages their appliances. Another issue of concern, which angers the community, is reportedly the uneven power supply, where suburbs of the municipality experience fewer hours of load-shedding than rural areas. In response to these concerns, Maluti-A-Phofung spokesperson, Thabo Khesa, explained that some of the issues surrounding the electricity crisis in the municipality are beyond their control and they will need much more time to resolve it. Khesa further stated that if people experience damage to appliances due to the electricity crisis and faults, they can report it to the municipal councillors.

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