Tshwane tells Eskom the city ‘is slow payer, not non-payer’
The City of Tshwane has defended its struggle to pay its debts to embattled power utility Eskom.
Mayor Randall Williams and the multi-party coalition held a press briefing on Thursday to update the media on the city's financial health and the proposed payment plans to Eskom.
Williams says the city is not a non-payer, but a slow payer.
"So instead of taking 15 days to pay, we take 29 days. So, in June we took 29 days to pay R1.7 billion. The same thing happened again in July we got another bill for R1.6 billion. So again we took 29 days instead of 15 days. Again in August we got another bill for R1.6 billion.
"So whenever we speak about money that we owe Eskom, it's about our current bill and not arrears debt. We are not a non-payer, we are a slow payer, yes. So instead of 15 days, we pay 29 days."
Williams also gave an assurance that it plans to settle its bill on time this month.
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"For the month of August we are confident that we will pay it again within 29 days. We will be able to pay up."
In recent months, Eskom and the City of Tshwane have been embroiled in a public spat over the City's non-payment to the power utility.
In September, Eskom took to twitter once again to expose Tshwane for its non-payment.
It has also threatened to cut all electricity to the metro if it fails to settle its debts.
