Gauteng Premier, Nomvula Mokonyane, today met with the Chairman of Eskom, Mpho Makwana, and the Chief Executive, Brian Dames, to discuss a myriad of issues of common interest. Another objective of the meeting was to identify areas for collaboration and further strengthen relations between the Gauteng Provincial Government and Eskom.
The Premier raised matters of concern around energy issues in the Gauteng province. These included issues such as non-payment and electricity cut-offs; illegal connections; Eskom's billing system and assistance to struggling municipalities, among others. The meeting also afforded government and Eskom an opportunity to gather and understand substantive issues and to respond to them.
On the issue of non-payment and electricity cut-offs, both the provincial government and Eskom agreed that non-payment of electricity was a major stumbling block to the delivery of quality services.
"People must pay for what they use," Mokonyane said. The premier tabled various interventions and amicable solutions were found for some of the issues, including municipal bulk debt.
"Revenue collection by municipalities is important for the sustainability of service provision," the premier said.
The premier also announced that the province and Eskom would set up a Joint Task Team (JTT) to tackle a number of issues of mutual interest.
The JTT would work towards the alignment of the Gauteng Green Economy Strategy to that of the electricity parastatal. It would also invest significant attention in restoring the culture of non-payment for services and ensuring that issues of bad debt are swiftly attended to.
"We need to move away from the bad culture of illegal connections. We have to work hard on changing the mindset of our communities so that people know that they have to pay for the electricity they use at all times," she said.
The Gauteng Premier said the province and its partners would - in dealing with the matter of illegal connections - have to put much more emphasis on responding to the needs of informal settlements, especially those which had been earmarked for development.
"As part of our indigence packages, the province - through municipalities - is already assisting in helping communities, particularly the most vulnerable, to access free basic electricity," the premier said.
The Task Team would also explore ways of popularising alternative forms of generating electricity, including the usage of solar power.
"In a smart province like ours, we need to explore how we can harness technology to ensure that we are energy efficient," she said. The task team would also be expected to initiate programmes which will help entrench behavioural change in the way many Gauteng communities use electricity.
"We are also hoping that our renewed relationship will see Eskom assisting us in making the correct decisions when partnering potential investors to the green economy," the premier added.
Eskom Chairman Makwana described the discussions with the Gauteng Premier as fruitful and said that a dynamic way forward had been mapped out.
For more information contact:
Matlakala Motloung
Cell: 082 458 4426
E-mail: Matlakala.Motloung@gauteng.gov.za
Source: Sapa
