Durban - The Msunduzi Municipality says it has pleaded with Eskom to excuse it from load reduction that could cut electricity to residents and businesses for prolonged periods as it works to bring its account with the power utility up to date.
The city met Eskom KZN representatives yesterday to plead its case after the latter imposed load reduction on Wednesday. Load reduction was to be implemented on top of the ongoing load shedding.
The municipality has come under fire from opposition parties and ratepayers who have accused it of failing in its duties.
DA MP and Midlands constituency head Hannah Winkler said the city needed to explain how and why it failed to keep its account up to date.
The city said its municipal manager, Lulamile Mapholoba, pleaded the municipality’s case with Eskom representatives.
“We remain 100% committed to service our debt to Eskom and they are our priority creditor. We’ve made a payment amounting to R200 million as we want to ensure that the citizens of Msunduzi are not compromised when it comes to uninterrupted power supply.
“We have made a plea to Eskom for a reprieve from the load reduction while we continue to make all efforts to bring our account up to date. Eskom has undertaken to plead our case with the national office since we have shown commitment to service our debt.”
The city said the implementation of the load reduction may negatively impact the city’s collections and operations.
It urged consumers to use electricity sparingly and to note that the load reduction and load shedding has a negative impact on electricity equipment as it wasn’t designed for the current frequent switching.
The municipality also took issue with the criticism from the DA, saying the party’s leader in the municipality, councillor Ross Strachan, is a member of the executive committee and was aware of the city’s revenue challenges.
Winkler said the municipality owed Eskom more than R500m.
She said the municipality had allowed its debt to Eskom to spiral out of control to such an extent that Eskom had been forced to use punitive measures against the city.
“The load-reduction schedule will see residents without electricity for up to an additional 10 hours a day on top of the regular load-shedding schedule that is nationally implemented. This could see combined rolling outages from 12 to 16 hours a day,” she said.
Anthony Waldhausen, of the Msunduzi Association of Residents, Ratepayers and Civics, said they were deeply concerned about the load reduction as it would negatively impact residents, businesses, the sick and elderly.
“The fact that residents and businesses are being punished for the municipality’s delays in payment of debt to Eskom will not go unnoticed.”