D-day for City of Johannesburg and City Power after order to pay R1-billion in Eskom debt

According to Eskom, the court application was compelled by the City of Johannesburg (COJ) and City Power’s defaulting on its electricity account since October 2023.

The power utility said when the matter was heard on 4 June 2024, the total amount owed to Eskom by CoJ/CP was R3.4-billion. Eskom said the city countered the claim for the R3.4-billion alleging potential over-billing and that, as a result it has applied an automatic set-off against Eskom’s electricity account.

The court dismissed the counterclaim with costs, consequently dismissing the automatic set-off claim.

“Eskom has written a letter to COJ/CP demanding payment of the full amount of R3.4-billion by 21 June 2024 and we hope they will respect the court decision and settle all outstanding debts to Eskom,” Eskom said in a statement on Thursday.

In response, City Power issued a brief press release on Friday morning stating;

“We have noted the case between Eskom and City Power. We obviously do not agree with it and we reserve the right to appeal. We have briefed our attorneys, and we will issue the statement later in the day on our next course of action.”

The court action comes on the back of a strained City Power system, which from last week began implementing load reduction in some areas to prevent a total system collapse.

Read in Daily Maverick: Load reduction hits Joburg to prevent ‘total grid collapse’ 

The action also comes after Eskom’s plea to the National Energy Regulator (Nersa) of South Africa for a 44% tariff increase.

Read in Daily Maverick: Eskom wants an increase in electricity tariffs of up to 44% next year

Meanwhile, the power utility has not implemented rolling blackouts for 85 days. The power utility has attributed this milestone to consistent improvement in generation performance.

Spokesperson for the City of Johannesburg Nthatisi Modingoane reiterated:

“We have noted the judgment issued between Eskom and City Power released yesterday. We obviously do not agree with it and we reserve the right to appeal such judgment. We have briefed our attorneys, and we will issue a statement later in the day on our next course of action.”

Spokesperson for the National Union of Metalworkers under which Eskom is partly affiliated, Phakamile Hlubi-Majola declined to comment.

Eskom Communications manager Amanda Qithi said, “We have not received any response from the City of Johannesburg and City Power. However, we noted that City Power issued a communication this morning”. DM