These are the five municipalities who owe Eskom the most

Cash-strapped municipalities’ debt might soon be cleared as the government forges ahead with promises of providing relief to municipalities that cannot afford to pay what they owe Eskom. 

Speaking in parliament Deputy President Paul Mashatile described municipality debt as a crisis that was worsening the power utility’s financial state.  

Mashatile said the culture of non-payment, not only by municipalities but also government departments and residents, was concerning. 

“As of the end of December 2022, municipalities owed Eskom R56.3bn, and the debt is rising. It is clear that we need a debt-relief strategy that will acknowledge the inherent risk of unviable municipalities,” Mashatile said.  

With the government providing the ailing power utility with debt relief of R254bn in the next three years, Mashatile said Eskom would provide incentivised relief to municipalities whose debt was unaffordable.  

However, he warned that relief to cash-strapped municipalities would come with conditions to ensure there would be no build-up of debt again.  

“Some of the conditions will include the installation of prepaid meters to correct the underlying behaviour of non-payment and operational practices in the affected municipalities.” 

A National Treasury Municipal Finance Management Act circular which will regulate the municipal debt relief strategy is expected to be implemented in April.