Eskom wins important victory against delinquent municipal customers at the Supreme Court of Appeal
14 March 2022
Last week Eskom scored its biggest legal victory against delinquent municipalities when the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) affirmed Eskom’s right to payment for services rendered to municipalities. On 09 March 2022 the SCA ruled that the Letsemeng Local Municipality in the Free State province must pay Eskom all amounts, in respect of the electricity it receives from Eskom, when such amounts are due and payable, in terms of the electricity supply agreement concluded between the parties.
The SCA further directed the municipality to pay to Eskom such portion of the equitable share that relates to electricity within 24 hours of receipt of the equitable share; pay all arrear debts due and payable to Eskom in accordance with the terms of the acknowledgement of debt and payment plan concluded between the parties; and to pay the R5 million the National Treasury had made available to the municipality for the payment of its electricity debt.
The SCA was also critical of the dishonesty of the municipality in its dealings with Eskom which it described as disgraceful. The SCA awarded costs against the municipality.
The SCA further rejected the Letsemeng municipality’s contention that there was a dispute concerning the municipality’s mode of payment that should be referred to the regulator and other executive authorities in terms of the Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act (IRFA) because it was unable to pay.