What happens when you don’t pay your electricity bill? You get cut off, of course, left to contemplate your delinquency in the dark. Now apply that potential fate to the WHOLE of the COJ, who owe Eskom a staggering R1 billion.
But cutting off an entire city, especially one that powers the SA economy, would have devastating consequences. Eskom has thus taken the matter to court first—the hearing is set for 4 June.
The city usually runs up a monthly tab of between R1-2bn but started defaulting in October 2023. It’s now running behind by a month, leaving Eskom to shoulder the shortfall, which it says it cannot afford.
“Eskom is not a bank and does not have the financial means to bankroll the CoJ electricity debt of more than R1 billion,” the utility said in court papers, adding it has had to borrow money at exorbitant interest rates to cover the gap.
The whole thing kinda stinks when you consider that COJ sells the electricity it buys from Eskom to us residents at a hefty 60% markup. 😰
But wait, there’s more! Come 1 July, properties in Johannesburg face a proposed 18.64% average electricity increase for the 2023/24 financial year.
Meanwhile, a financial report handed to the Johannesburg council in February, covering the months of July to October 2023, shows that City Power was bleeding up to R1 billion a month in revenue, thanks to illegal electricity connections and an inability to collect everything it was owed, News24 reported.
Here’s an idea, COJ: collect the money that you’re owed instead of putting more pressure on those who actually pay. 🙄
