Question NW805 to the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs

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03 July 2018 - NW805

Profile picture: Van Der Walt, Ms D

Van Der Walt, Ms D to ask the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs

(1)With regard to the debt owed to Eskom by the (a) Modimolle, (b) Mookgophong and (c) Thabazimbi Local Municipalities in Limpopo, (i) what amount was owed by each specified municipality at the end of each of the past five financial years and (ii) who was the (aa) municipal manager and (bb) chief financial officer in each case; (2) whether any actions were taken to pay the outstanding debts; if not, why was no action taken; if so, what actions were taken;(3) whether any debts owed by the municipalities to Eskom were written off in the specified financial years; if so, what are the relevant details in each case?

Reply:

(1) (i) Table 1 presents the total amount owed by Modimolle, Mookgophong and Thabazimbi Local Municipalities in Limpopo at the end of the past four financial years as well as January 2018 as follows:

Table 1: Total amounts owed:

   

Financial year

NAME of Municipality

As at Jan_2018 (Rm)

Mar_2017 (Rm)

Mar_2016 (Rm)

Mar_2015 (Rm)

Mar_2014 (Rm)

MODIMOLLE LOCAL MUNICIPALITY

133 677 479

89 691 778

30 052 581

6 216 489

5 479 296

MOOKGOPHONG LOCAL MUNICIPALITY

123 185 380

98 353 558

64 435 450

38 801 446

19 079 933

THABAZIMBI LOCAL MUNICIPALITY

222 470 986

208 018 852

149 351 611

109 226 136

63 239 219

Grand Total

479 333 845

396 064 189

243 839 643

154 244 071

87 798 449

1. (ii) (aa)(bb)

 

2013/14

2014/15

2015/16

2016/17

2017/18

 

MM

MM

MM

MM

MM

Thabazimbi

Ntsoane M.E

Ntsoane M.E (Suspended)

Ntsoane M.E (Suspended)

Vacant

T.J. Ramagaga

Mookgophong

Magwala N.P

Vacant

Sebola O.P

Sebola O.P

Amalgamation

Modimolle

Vacant

Bambo N.S

Bambo N.S

Sebola O.P

Sebola O.P

 

CFO

CFO

CFO

CFO

CFO

Thabazimbi

Malema L.C

Malema L.C (Suspended)

vacant

vacant

Mhlanga S.N

Mookgophong

Eksteen D

Eksteen D

Eksteen D

Eksteen D

Amalgamation

Modimolle

Mathabatha

Mathabatha

Vacant

EKsteen D

vacant

2. Yes, Eskom was involved in the following actions:

  • Various payment arrangements were signed by these municipalities over time, but they were not fully honoured.
  • Eskom, with the intervention of national and provincial government (Treasury and CoGTA) have engaged municipalities in order to agree on realistic payment plans.
  • Promotion of Administration Justice Act (PAJA) was initiated against the three municipalities in question at different time periods.
  • Thabazimbi Municipality entered into several payment arrangements and none were honoured (April 2015, March 2017). Electricity supply was interrupted during October 2017 and November 2017. The municipality has subsequently signed a new payment arrangement with Eskom in December 2017 and it is being honoured monthly.

The municipality is busy with a project of installing smart metering in its residential areas although it is getting resistance from some customers. Upon finalisation of the project, the

smart metering initiative should assist the municipality with its revenue collection efforts.

  • Modimolle and Mookgophong Municipalities signed payment arrangements with Eskom in November 2016 and they were not honoured. Thereafter, they signed new payment arrangements in March 2017 and these were also not honoured. PAJA was initiated in November 2017 and the process was suspended after the municipalities entered into new payment arrangements that were signed in November 2017.

They have subsequently failed to honour their agreements and the electricity bulk supplies to the two municipalities are scheduled to be interrupted from 31 March 2018 as published.

3. Eskom has not written off any municipal debt in any of the abovementioned financial periods.

 

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