Minister van Rooyen held a fruitful engagement with the Mpumalanga provincial government leadership, Emalahleni and Msukuligwa Municipalities
“We are committed to servicing our bulk electricity account to ensure that community members who pay for their services, either individuals or businesses are not prejudiced by the interrupted power supply”, this were the sentiments of expressed by the Executive Mayor Emalahleni Municipality at the meeting held today (23 Feb 2017) in Mbombela.
Minister Des van Rooyen visited Mpumalanga Province to engage the leadership about the challenges relating to the Eskom account and urged both Emalahleni and Msukuligwa Municipalities to pay as expected. The Minister’s visit was in response to the failure of the two municipalities to make the necessary arrangements with Eskom not to cut their power supply.
The Provincial leadership, led by MEC for Cooperative Governance, Ms Refilwe Mtshweni expressed confidence in the engagements between national CoGTA, the Province and the affected Municipalities. This meeting was a step in the right direction towards ensuring that challenges experienced by the two municipalities are identified and addressed speedily.
For the Emalahleni Municipality, the meeting today was part of its ongoing consultations to find a lasting solution to the challenges relating the Eskom Bulk account. The meeting was impressed with the plans that the municipality has put in place to ensure that funds are available to regularly service the Eskom account.
“The Inter-Ministerial Task Team (IMTT) at the national level is continuing to consult and meet with all relevant stakeholders in an effort to find lasting solution to the Eskom issues”, said Minister van Rooyen. The Minister also expressed appreciation to Eskom for being open to discussions with all the Municipalities like Emalahleni who are experiencing difficulties to pay their electricity account.
The meeting agreed that both the National and Provincial departments will continue to support and work with the municipalities. To this effect, a team was constituted to also assist to provide technical expertise and advice. In their presentation, the Municipality indicated that a number of state owned enterprises (SOEs), national and Provincial departments owe the municipality a sizeable amount of money that can go a long way in settling the Eskom debt. The meeting concluded that this departments and SOEs should be informed to pay for the services they are receiving from municipalities.
“We will continue to engage with all the stakeholders on this matter and other Bulk accounts to ensure that services are provided to communities”, added the Minister. Another meeting will be convened in the coming week led by Premier Mabuza to find a solution geared to ensuring that both Municipalities are able to settle their bulk Eskom account.
The meeting was optimistic that both Municipalities will soon be able to make payments and enter into agreements with Eskom to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply to communities.
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