Trouble-torn Mooi Mpofana local municipality in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands is in dire straits as it owes Eskom more than R500m.
The debt exceeds the municipality's annual budget of R200m, and to make matters worse, the municipality has recently been placed under administration.
Mooi Mpofana mayor Maureen Magubane said they are “working hard” to contain the Eskom debt which stands at R508m.
“We have made an arrangement with Eskom to pay them R6m every month, and we have started paying because we do not want the arrears to escalate,” said Magubane.
Magubane said the municipality had also applied for Eskom’s municipal debt relief support programme.
The programme is aimed at easing pressure on municipalities battling to pay their debt. Magubane said her administration inherited this debt from the previous administration.
The municipality has a population of about 40,000 people and 11,000 households.
“This debt has a negative impact on our mandate as the municipality to render service delivery to residents,” she said.
Mooi River is a neglected area, there are potholes on the streets and sometimes street lights are not working. We have abandoned buildings some that have become a gangster's paradise.
— Willy Holiday
Magubane said she is optimistic they would be able to turn around their financial situation with the help of the administrator who has come on board.
DA councillor Sicelo Buthelezi said: “The fact of the matter is that when we got into office in 2021, we inherited this elephant in the room.”
Buthelezi said electricity was free to consumers, especially in Bruntville, before they got into office.
IFP councillor Jacob Dlomo said this debt started in 2015.
“This debt is giving the council officials sleepless nights, and it has plunged the municipality into turmoil. This is the reason the municipality is under administration,” he said.
Dlomo said the municipality's financial status would not improve if this debt is not addressed.
Willy Holiday, who lives in town in Mooi River, said the municipality's poorly run administration had landed them in a “terrible state”.
“Mooi River is a neglected area, there are potholes on the streets and sometimes street lights are not working. We have abandoned buildings some that have become a gangster's paradise,” he said.
Another local resident Sebenzile Mkhwanazi said she hoped the municipality would pay the debt so that Eskom would not cut power.
“We need to support the municipality by paying for electricity as residents,” she said.
Mooi River Farmers Association manager Tony Leroux said local farmers do not buy electricity from the municipality but directly from Eskom.
He said as far as they know, the debt is caused by the fact that residents do not pay for the electricity.
Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokwena referred all the questions to the municipality due to the Protection of Personal Information Act.
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