Johannesburg and City Power ordered to pay massive Eskom debt
Power utility Eskom has obtained a court judgement against the City of Johannesburg and the city's power entity, City Power, for payment of R1.073 billion in debt.
The South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg ordered the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) and City Power (CP) to pay the R1.073 billion - and interest - for the unpaid electricity account.
Eskom Gauteng spokesperson Amanda Qithi says the court application was necessitated by the fact that CoJ/CP had been defaulting on its electricity account since October 2023.
"When the matter was heard on 4 June 2024, the total amount owed to Eskom by CoJ/CP was R3.4 billion.
"The City in response to Eskom's application, brought a counter claim against Eskom for R3.4 billion alleging potential over-billing and that, as a result it has applied an automatic set-off against Eskom electricity account."
Qithi says following the ruling, Eskom has written to the two entities for payment to be finalised by today.
"The court dismissed the counterclaim by the City with costs, consequently dismissing the automatic set-off claim.
"Eskom has written a letter to COJ/CP demanding payment of the full amount of R3.4 billion by 21 June 2024 (Friday)and we hope they will respect the court decision and settle all outstanding debts to Eskom."
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