Some of the municipalities threatened with Eskom power switch-off have 'no hope' of paying outstanding bills

Eskom has announced that 14 municipalities are in danger of having their power cut off because of unpaid bills totalling R110 billion.

It says the affected councils have not settled their accounts for at least the last 18 months, have not met the conditions of the National Treasury municipal debt relief programme, or pose a significant financial risk to the power utility.

Should the municipalities fail to take corrective action, Eskom says it will proceed with credit control measures, "which may include interrupting electricity supply at predetermined times, as permitted by law".

"If defaults persist, Eskom will be compelled to limit supply to levels commensurate with payments received."

Part of this is the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA), a process which is meant to ensures that Eskom complies with legal requirements while taking necessary steps to maintain the stability of the electricity supply system.

The South African Local Government Association (SALGA) has said that the issues involved in the proposed public consultation process are quite complex, and warned that any plan to cut power supply might cause social instability.

Most of these municipalities are in Mpumalanga, followed by the Free State, North West, and one in the Eastern Cape.

An Eskom list published by Moneyweb includes the major Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality on the Gauteng East Rand.

Considering that Ekurhuleniey was one of the strongest municipalities from a revenue generation perspective going back five to ten years, they shouldn't be on this list, says municipal governance expert Miyelani Holeni.

Then, on the other side of the extreme, those like Nala Local Municipality in the Free State have no hope of paying their outstanding power bills, Holeni points out.

He sketches out how municipalities got to this point after years of non-enforcement - take a listen in the interview audio at the top of the article.