Astral projects a poultry catastrophe if Eskom cuts off defaulting councils
Poultry producer Astral Foods on Thursday says its electricity supply will stop on January 23, the deadline Eskom has given Mpumalanga’s Lekwa Local Municipality to settle outstanding debt. Astral is the municipality’s largest client and relies on uninterrupted electricity and water supplies. The company warned that Eskom would disconnect power supply to the municipality indefinitely if the situation did not improve — so 11.5-million chickens would not be fed daily. "What could further compound an already volatile situation is a report that Finance Minister Gordhan indicated that National Treasury will act against municipalities which have failed to settle their debt to Eskom," said Astral CEO Chris Schutte. This could mean withholding national grants to defaulting municipalities. "We regard the notification of the power interruptions and potential disconnection of electricity supply to Astral’s largest feed-milling and poultry-processing operations, as a catastrophe," he said. Last...
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