Northern Cape municipalities collectively owe Eskom more than R5.169 billion as of June 2024, as the Northern Cape Department of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements & Traditional Affairs confirmed in reply to written questions posed by the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Northern Cape. It is a shocking increase from the amount of R2.68 billion that was in arrears as of June 2023, as reported by the Auditor-General.
This municipal fiscal crisis is set to worsen, as R4.5 billion is owed for more than 90 days already. As the Auditor-General also cautions that 61% of the Northern Cape’s municipalities are in dire financial straits, with 92% unable to pay bills within 30 days, it becomes more and more unlikely that municipalities will be able to pay their debts.
When municipalities fail to settle Eskom debts, it is residents who bear the brunt of punitive disconnections and it is businesses that collapse without a reliable supply of affordable electricity. Are we going to see an end of loadshedding only to experience a return of disconnections imposed on ratepayers due to municipal debts?
We’ve submitted questions to probe which departments worsen the situation by failing to pay their municipal accounts when due. It cannot be that ordinary citizens have their electricity disconnected if their accounts are a little behind, but that departments are allowed to owe millions and millions of rands without facing any repercussions.