The High Court in Pretoria has dismissed with costs AfriForum’s application to prevent Eskom from cutting off municipalities’ power supply. AfriForum said it was disappointed with the decision and remained of the opinion that Eskom‚ as a state-managed entity‚ has other legal measures at its disposal to recover its fees. AfriForum had argued that Eskom’s decision to impose blackouts on municipalities whose accounts were in arrears, would punish businesses and residents for the municipalities’ failures. Eskom agreed in court on Wednesday to delay blackouts planned for seven Free State and three North West municipalities — which owe about R700m to the utility — until January 16, to give them time to pay their arrears. Acting Eskom CE Matshela Koko welcomed Thursday’s decision by the High Court. In a statement issued by the utility after Thursday’s ruling, he said that although Eskom was legally permitted to cut power supply altogether when municipalities were in arrears, it had chosen ...
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