Three municipalities that were scheduled to have its power cut today have narrowly escaped darkness, however Eskom has made it clear that it will go ahead with the interruption of electricity supply to municipalities that still have outstanding bills owed to the power utility.

While Eskom plans to cut power to approximately 15 municipalities, it has suspended planned supply interruptions to eight municipalities as payments were made according to payment plans agreed upon. These included Nketoana, Nala, Tokologo, and Mantsopa municipalities in the Free State Province, Walter Sisulu municipality in the Eastern Cape Province, Dihlabeng and Masilonyana municipalities in the Free State Province, and Mamusa in the North West Province

Eskom said that it would monitor the “strict adherence to the payment plans and the payment of current accounts of these municipalities and any defaults will result in the interruption of supply without further notice”.

Power interruptions affect local business

Standerton based poultry company Astral said that its operations would be severely affected by the outages as the company would not be able to solely run on alternative power sources. Astral is scheduled to have its power cut on 23 January. The company said that this could be “catastrophic” for business.

In a report, Astral CEO Chris Schutte explained that poultry farming required feed, water and ventilation to be available to the birds at all times, the running of machinery and refrigeration, and that power cuts will have severe effects on all these processes.

The company said it will be taking legal action against the parties responsible for backing it into such a tight corner as it has fully paid its electricity bill to the municipality.

F4SD calls for firing of municipal officials

The Forum 4 Service Delivery (F4SD) also weighed in on the planned interruptions last Friday and said that municipalities should fire the officials responsible for failing to honour arrangements to pay their debts to Eskom.

Eskom’s Koko says power cuts are last resort

Interim chief executive Matshela Koko said: “We have always emphasised the fact that electricity interruptions are the last resort available to us, which we have taken agonisingly.” He added that Eskom was “immensely encouraged” by the kind of response it has been witnessing with municipalities such as Dihlabeng and Masilonyana municipalities in the Free State Province, and Mamusa in the North West Province settling their outstanding bills today.

Cut-off times

For municipalities that will be affected, Eskom said it has opted for a softer approach of interrupting electricity between 06h00 – 08h00 and 17h00 – 19h30 (Monday to Friday) and 08h30 – 11h00 and 15h00 – 17h30 (Saturday and Sunday).

To avoid supply interruptions, the municipalities need to meet the following three requirements:

• A cash payment as negotiated with each municipality
• A written undertaking in the form of a Council Resolution that current accounts will be honoured going forward
• A payment plan for the arrears supported by a Council Resolution

According to Eskom, the following towns and cities will be affected: