By Zuko Komisa
Eskom, the state-owned electricity provider in South Africa, is thinking about cutting off power to the City of Tshwane because the municipality hasn’t paid its outstanding debt.
The utility stated in a statement on Tuesday that Tshwane had broken the terms of the electricity supply contract it has with Eskom by failing to pay 1.6 billion rands, which was due and payable on August 17.
Also Read: WATCH: Kanye West defends selling Yeezy Gap collection in giant ‘garbage’ bags
In a statement, Eskom said:
“The power utility had numerous engagements with the City of Tshwane’s management to ensure that the City paid its account. Nevertheless, these actions have not yielded any results as the City has continued with the same pattern. “
“The inconsistent payments are both untenable and unacceptable since Eskom’s financial position is well known. The City’s persistent failure to honour its payments places a huge burden on Eskom to continue providing it with electricity.”
Peter Sutton, a member of the Mayoral Council responsible for finance, stated in an interview that the City’s payment for July was five days late due to cash flow issues and a shortage of cash reserves.
Consumers have 30 days to pay, but Eskom only allows 15 days, therefore businesses typically use reserves to cover the time between collections and payments to Eskom.
The state-owned utility said it “will continue to apply different approaches to recover money owed to it and has acquainted the MEC of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs in Gauteng of the risks associated with the late payment of the City of Tshwane’s electricity account.”
READ NEXT: Tembisa Hospital under fire for splurging almost R500K on skinny jeans
