City Power cuts residents while owing Eskom billions
· Citizen
One of the most interesting ironies in present-day South Africa is that City Power – the entity providing power to most of Johannesburg – currently has a campaign to cut off those who owe it money (as well as many who don’t, but who cares about collateral damage?)… but, at the same time, refuses to pass on all the revenue it collects from electricity to the provider, Eskom.
Visit newsbetsport.bond for more information.
Settling its debt is something City Power has dodged masterfully for many years.
Eskom claims it is now owed R1.5 billion by Joburg, which has a due date of 5 June – but with a further R5.2 billion in arrears debt, which has not been settled.
Eskom last week confirmed an interruption or disconnection of the city’s electricity was on the cards should it not make a deal to rectify its debt.
Treasury says that it is unable to intervene in the dispute and points to the provincial government as being the body which should take matters in hand.
The Gauteng provincial government? Seat of manifest incompetence and corruption? Good luck with getting that lot to do the right thing…
Minister of Electricity and Energy Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, as a good ANC cadre, is caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place.
He doesn’t want to call his Gauteng comrades to order but, at the same time, he wants to continue the positive publicity he has been conjuring up for Eskom as the slayer of the load shedding dragon.
The reason that Eskom wants to hike electricity tariffs, once again, for those of us honest enough to pay our accounts, is precisely because so many do not pay – and they get away with it.
Of course, making those defaulters and electricity thieves pay would put at risk a huge chunk of the ANC’s voter base.
So, don’t hold your breath…