No political will to recoup municipal debt owed to Eskom, as ministerial task team has not been reconstituted
4 December 2019
It was confirmed on Tuesday during a presentation to Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) on Municipal and Water Use Debt, that the much-vaulted Interministerial Task Team (IMTT) set up during the 5th Parliament to address the many challenges and issues affecting Eskom and its relationship with Municipalities has not been reconstituted in the 6th Parliament.
The non-constitution of the body was only raised on Tuesday, the day upon which the presentation was rescheduled.
What is clear here is that there is no political will on the part of the ANC Government to address the pervasiveness of municipal non-payment to Eskom. This is further compounded by the fact that COGTA Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has been chronically AWOL in Parliament which indicates a complete lack of urgency or commitment to resolving the issue of outstanding debt to Eskom.
Despite the serious threat non-payment has on the future of Eskom and the South African economy, the South African Local Government Association, an organisation tasked with municipal oversight, seems remarkably unconcerned about this spiralling debt – instead raising all kinds of excuses about the non-payment by municipalities.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is however unsurprised by National Government’s failure to show its teeth on this matter, as it would mean holding ANC cadres and cronies to account for their failures. This would explain why, during its tenure which commenced in 2017, the IMTT, and despite its estimated 40 meetings with Eskom, municipal debt owed to the utility in fact grew by R16 billion. This means that the municipal debt owed to Eskom which was R1.2 billion in March 2013 has increased to R26.4 billion by October 2019. This comprises 59% of the total debt due to Eskom which is sitting at R44 billion.
The top 10 debtor municipalities account for 67% of the debt and the top 20 for 79% of that debt. During the last financial year, 48 valid payment arrangements have been made, but only 11 were fully honoured and the payments by the top 20 debtor municipalities payment levels have dropped from a peak of 91% in March 2016 to only 31.3% in October 2019 with virtually no payment towards current accounts over the last 7 months.
These numbers begs the question, will the new Eskom CEO be able to turn this appalling debtor’s book around, or will he merely be relegated to being another puppet who is not allowed to act in collecting this debt as there is clearly no political will to actually solve the challenges facing Eskom and to hold debtor municipalities to account?
Issued by Benedicta Van Minnen, DA Member on the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, 4 December 2019
