Eskom pushed R3 billion too far
· Citizen
When the chickens come home to roost in Ekurhuleni next month, they’ll probably be fine settling on Eskom’s high voltage lines… because there won’t be any power in them.
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That’s because unless the municipality starts paying what it owes, the lights will go out.
Ekurhuleni could then become the first city in South Africa to be removed from the power grid because of debt, which Eskom puts at more than R3 billion.
Those chickens coming home to roost were first put to flight by successive ANC-dominated city administrations, which continued to do two outrageous things.
Firstly, the municipality has, effectively, looked the other way when it comes to recovering money owed from people living in those areas likely to be ANC strongholds.
Secondly, the money it has been bringing in from its residents who do the right thing and pay their bills, has not been passed along to Eskom.
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It has been diverted elsewhere – possibly to the basic, undoubtedly inflated salary bill, possibly into places where it can easily be looted by comrades.
That Eskom has been forced to take such a drastic step – making public its threat and calling for input on why its plan should not be executed – shows that it has reached the end of its tether with Ekurhuleni.
Yet, let us not tut-tut about the failings of the municipal mavens in Germiston. This situation is mirrored in cities and towns across the country.
Municipalities have already been told by central government – via President Cyril Ramaphosa, no less – that they have to get their act together in terms of allocating revenue to a specific service and not using it in other places.
But people all over the country have been used to getting free electricity… and that genie won’t go back into the bottle without a bitter fight.
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