We don't owe Eskom for electricity, says parliament

Parliament has denied owing Eskom thousands in arrears.

On Tuesday, parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) said it would write to National Assembly speaker Thandi Modise and parliament management about the R17,000 that parliament owes the power utility.

However, parliament spokesman Moloto Mothapo said on Wednesday that this was incorrect information.

“The information given to the committee was unfortunately erroneous as parliament does not have any electricity account with Eskom and thus cannot owe or be in arrears with the entity," he said.

“Parliament’s buildings, which include the parliamentary precinct and villages that accommodate MPs in Cape Town, are under the management of the department of public works. This means that the department of public works, not parliament, is billed for electricity and other services of the parliamentary buildings."

Mothapo added that the inaccurate information given to the parliamentary committee was worrying.

“An an institution that conducts oversight over Eskom and is key to addressing the challenges currently confronting it, parliament should not be amongst those contributing to the power utility’s financial problems," he said.