Central SA
Emfuleni residents to pay bills directly to Eskom─── ZENANDE MPAME 08:55 Sat, 08 Mar 2025
Emfuleni Municipality residents will now have to pay their electricity bill directly to Eskom because of an agreement between the municipality and the power utility.
The municipality sent a statement on Friday (7/3) reminding customers to pay their accounts directly to the power utility starting in March.
This agreement follows a court ruling from June 2023 that is now finally being enforced. The court appointed Eskom as an agent for the collection of electricity bills due to the municipality’s default on payment to the national electricity supplier.
“Some of the customers have complied with the Distribution Agency Agreement directive while a notable number of customers are still not making payments directly to Eskom,” said Emfuleni Municipality spokesperson Makhosonke Sangweni.
Joint statement from the municipality and Eskom. Photo supplied
“As the municipality and Eskom, we remind customers to pay accounts directly to get improved service delivery and reliable electricity supply.”
In September last year, Eskom announced in a statement the sheriff of the court had successfully attached the municipality's four bank accounts to ensure the money it collected for electricity would be paid directly to Eskom.
The power utility said the municipality failed to comply with the requirements of the debt relief programme and that it had “exhausted all legal and mediation avenues to secure payment for services rendered since 2018”.
“The municipality failed to comply with the agreement to pay off its historical debt and keep its power bill up to date, so Eskom withdrew the offer; the order is now fully enforced, which means households as well,” said Emfuleni municipality FF Plus councillor Gerda Senekal.
“The FF Plus foresees major challenges with the payment of power bills to Eskom as residents receive a single bill from the municipality, and will now have to make their calculations to determine what amounts need to be paid to Eskom for electricity consumption.”
In January this year, Emfuleni had to return R636 million of the Municipal Infrastructure Grant because it failed to spend it to improve infrastructure and service delivery in Vereeniging, Vanderbijlpark, Sharpeville, and Sebokeng, among others.
Political parties expressed their disappointment over Emfuleni’s failure to spend the money to improve infrastructure in the Vaal Triangle. “This represents a missed opportunity to tackle the significant infrastructural challenges facing this municipality,” said Emfuleni DA MPL Kingsol Chabalala.
