Emfuleni, Eskom set for court battle
The Emfuleni municipality has applied for an urgent court interdict to prevent Eskom from attaching its property.
The power utility seized some of the municipality’s furniture and vehicles on Tuesday repay unpaid debts.
According to Eskom, Emfuleni owes it R2.3 billion.
In 2018, a court judgment ruled that Eskom could recover R615 million in this debt from the municipality.
“We are interdicting Eskom to stop with the attachment. We filed papers and the court allowed us. Our matter will be heard tomorrow (Thursday) at the high court,” says the municipality’s mayor Pias Maseko.
ALSO READ
[WATCH] Fees Must Fall changed the way we see society: Kanya Cekeshe
Cekeshe was released on parole after serving two years in prison at the Leeuwkop Correctional Centre in Johannesburg. He was found guilty of setting alight a police van in December 2017, but was granted special remission by President Cyril Ramaphosa in late 2019.
Maseko says they are also willing to discuss possible payment plans with Eskom in order to avoid a similar incident in the future.
“We don’t have a signed plan with Eskom. We have been trying to sign a payment plan with the power utility and they are refusing to sign because of the amount we owe them. We don’t have any signed agreement apart from what we are paying every month.”
Gauteng Cooperative Governance MEC Lebogang Maile has vowed to intervene, saying that the municipality had been paying Eskom, but that the accumulated debt it proving to be the main problem.