Municipalities owe Eskom a staggering R109.4bn. The debt rises monthly, and the electricity utility says it is financially unsustainable.
Co-operative governance and traditional affairs minister Velenkosini Hlabisa said in a written reply to a parliamentary question by ActionSA MP Alan Beesley that of this debt R15.6bn was current and R8.7bn was outstanding for 31-60 days, R8bn for 61-90 days and R77bn for 90 days and more.
The minister gave a municipal and metropolitan breakdown of the debt, showing that Eastern Cape municipalities owe R5.4bn, Gauteng R29.4bn, the Free State R25bn, KwaZulu-Natal R4.9bn, Limpopo R2bn, Mpumalanga R24.7bn, the North West R8.2bn, the Northern Cape R5.5bn and the Western Cape R2.3bn.
Eskom CEO Dan Marokane said in a briefing in parliament this month that municipal debt could reach more than R120bn by end-March. Marokane pointed out that the Treasury’s municipal debt programme was not working: of the 71 municipalities that signed up for the programme only 11 were paying their current accounts on time.
He said that municipal debt was “spiralling out of control”, putting Eskom's finances at risk and pressure on tariff increases and on the debt reduction required by the Treasury. A political solution was needed urgently.
Hlabisa said that municipal debt to the seven water boards on October 24 amounted to R23.7bn of which R3.6bn was current, R1.6bn was older than 30 days, R760m older than 60 days, R631m older than 90 days and R17bn older than 120 days or more.
The Amatola water board was owed R442m, Vaal Central R10.5bn, Lepelle R802.3bn, Magalies R1bn, Overberg R3.6m, Rand Water R7.6bn and Umngeni R3.4bn.
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