Vaal businessmen take Emfuleni to court over Eskom
A group of businessmen from the south of Gauteng will ask permission from the court to pay their electricity bills directly to Eskom, cutting out the Emfuleni municipality.
The South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg will hear the application by the businessmen on Friday morning.
Eskom spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe says the Emfuleni Municipality owes the power utility over R600-million and scheduled power cuts will be confirmed following the court ruling.
"The interdict is really for the benefit of Eskom. They are saying that they have been paying the municipality and the municipality has failed to pass on the money to Eskom. If the court rules in their favour, it will be a ruling in Eskom's favour because we will get the money directly from these customers that are willing to pay."
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Emfuleni Municipality's Standley Gaba confirmed the court case and said that they will only comment on the matter once the court ruled.
The embattled municipality has been marred by claims that it is on the brink of imploding.
It's fleet has been returned to the service provider, after the Muncipality failed to pay.
Concerns have now been raised over the possibility that service delivery may collapse after the municipalities lost all its vehicles.
However, Gaba maintained that the contract with their service provider had simply ended.