Emfuleni Municipality wants National Treasury to again write off portion of its Eskom debt
The municipality believes it meets National Treasury’s criteria to qualify for another debt write-off.
FILE: Eskom's Megawatt Park in Johannesburg. Picture: Eyewitness News
JOHANNESBURG - The cash-strapped Emfuleni Local Municipality wants National Treasury to once again write off a portion of its debt to Eskom.
The municipality owed Eskom R8 billion due to unpaid electricity bills before Treasury scrapped a portion of the debt.
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After applying for the debt relief programme, Treasury wrote off nearly R2 billion of this debt.
The embattled Emfuleni Local Municipality believes it meets National Treasury’s criteria to qualify for another debt write-off.
This time, the municipality is seeking a further R2 billion reduction of its debt to Eskom, less than a year after its previous write-off.
Finance MMC Hassan Mako said the municipality had already begun engaging the relevant authorities in an effort to reduce what it owed the power utility.
"There is also a process that we are undertaking now to see if we can get the second write-off because we believe we meet all the relevant conditions. The amount remaining is R5 billion and if we get another write-off, we’ll be left with R3 billion."
The municipality recently landed in trouble again over another outstanding debt owed to Rand Water.