LETTER: Eskom must place municipalities on pre-paid electricity
Angry residents will soon rise up and ensure their mayor and councillors pay the Eskom tariff
25 January 2023 - 10:21
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Locals walk past electricity pylons in Soweto, Johannesburg. File photo: REUTERS/SIPHIWE SIBEKO
Municipal debt owed to Eskom keeps mounting. It’s not as if the municipalities have no budget — they just prefer to spend the money on something else, knowing Eskom won’t cut them off. Of course, that doesn’t stop them from selling the “free” power to their residents.
The solution is to place municipalities on a pre-paid basis, like individuals. If they don’t pay, they get nothing. Angry residents will soon rise up and ensure their mayor and councillors pay the Eskom tariff, which in any event is less than the resale price to residents.
There would be no incentive for a municipality not to pay, as in most cases they resell to their residents and businesses at a profit. Absent this model, municipal debt to Eskom will keep climbing.
Willem Cronje Cape Town
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
LETTER: Eskom must place municipalities on pre-paid electricity
Angry residents will soon rise up and ensure their mayor and councillors pay the Eskom tariff
Municipal debt owed to Eskom keeps mounting. It’s not as if the municipalities have no budget — they just prefer to spend the money on something else, knowing Eskom won’t cut them off. Of course, that doesn’t stop them from selling the “free” power to their residents.
The solution is to place municipalities on a pre-paid basis, like individuals. If they don’t pay, they get nothing. Angry residents will soon rise up and ensure their mayor and councillors pay the Eskom tariff, which in any event is less than the resale price to residents.
There would be no incentive for a municipality not to pay, as in most cases they resell to their residents and businesses at a profit. Absent this model, municipal debt to Eskom will keep climbing.
Willem Cronje
Cape Town
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
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