Note to Broadcasters: Please find linked soundbite in English by Cllr Imaan Suliman.
The DA in the Ramotshere Moiloa Local Municipality is concerned that years of financial mismanagement and cadre deployment, compounded by ANC factionalism has left residents faced with the possibility of a bulk electricity disconnection from Eskom due to unpaid debt.
Eskom has given notice that it intends to disconnect the electricity supply to Ramotshere Moiloa should the aged bulk electricity debt of more than R100 million not be paid or a payment arrangement reached by 2 May 2023. See letter here.
This will not be the first time that Eskom suspended bulk electricity supply to Ramotshere Moiloa. Eskom suspended bulk electricity supply to the municipality in July 2020 due to a then R50,7 million debt. Residents at the time were left without electricity for up to six hours a day which had a negative impact on the local economy of Zeerust and surrounding areas.
The Ramotshere Moiloa Council has adopted many resolutions and entered into several debt repayment plans over the the last couple of years which the ANC governed municipality refused to honour.
Last year the Constitutional Court ruled that Eskom cannot disconnect bulk electricity to a municipality without adequate notice and seeking the input of residents who would be affected by such a decision.
The DA is concerned that the ongoing loadshedding and the potential for disconnections would worsen the already severe economic crisis brought on by the Covid-19 lockdowns and further drive businesses into financial ruin.
Due to the ANC’s incompetence, the municipality is technically bankrupt and unable to manage its finances to service its debt and has therefore been placed on a financial recovery plan by the North West Provincial Treasury.
The DA will write to the Executive Mayor, Cllr Dina Pitso, and the Municipal Manager, Ramojakgomo Mojapelo, urging them to implement Provincial Treasury’s financial recovery plan and enter a payment arrangement with Eskom to avoid leaving the residents in the dark.
We will also write to Eskom informing them about their duty to abide by the Constitutional Court and to inform residents timeously as required through a public participation process about any planned bulk electricity supply suspensions. In addition, we would also request Eskom to waive all penalty fees and interest on the bulk debt once an agreeable payment plan to service the outstanding debt even though Eskom is within its rights to levy these punitive charges on Ramotshere Moiloa for defaulting, but it would go a long way towards ensuring that paying residents are not penalised for the mismanagement of the ANC in government.