While State-owned power utility Eskom has reached payment agreements with ten of the top 20 defaulting municipalities, the balance would face scheduled power interruptions from June for nonpayment.

The 20 local municipalities aggregately owed Eskom about R3.68-billion for bulk electricity supply, which had been reduced by R54-million since the power utility threatened cut-offs for these municipalities earlier in April.

The total municipal arrear debt greater than 30 days was R4.67-billion at the end of March.

“Eskom has reached a point where it can no longer continue to provide power without receiving payment in return. We are pleased that these ten municipalities are doing their bit to ensure that they reduce the debt owed to Eskom and we encourage all defaulting municipalities to do the same,” Eskom acting CEO Brian Molefe said this week.

The Nama Khoi municipality, in the Northern Cape; the Free State-based Nketoana, Dihlabeng and Nala municipalities; the Thabazimbi municipality, in Limpopo; the City of Matlosana and the Madibeng and Naledi municipalities, in the North West and the Randfontein and Westonaria municipalities, in Gauteng, would not have their electricity supply cut as long as the terms of the payment agreements were adhered to.

“If these conditions are not met, interruptions to supply will be implemented without further notice,” Molefe warned.

Eskom, meanwhile, planned to implement regulated interruption of electricity supply to the defaulting Emalahleni, Govan Mbeki, Lekwa, Msukaligwa, Maluti-a-Phofung, Matjhabeng and Ngwathe local municipalities, in Mpumalanga and the Free State, from June 5.

Power supply would be disconnected between 06:00 and 10:00 and between 17:00 and 21:00 Monday to Friday, and from 07:00 to 10:00 and 17:00 to 20:00 on Saturday and Sundays.

“Eskom recognises that this will cause undue hardship to members of the public and businesses in the affected areas and also have an adverse effect on the delivery of other services,” the utility noted in a statement.

It was not clear whether the remaining three municipalities, namely Makana, Lichtenburg and Thaba Chweu, would be cut off or if they were in negotiations with Eskom.

“Eskom is working closely with the relevant national and provincial departments through local, national and ‘the Electricity War Room’ structures to manage the municipal financial recovery process and we believe that the work being done within these structures will yield positive results,” Molefe said.

Meanwhile, AfriForum was preparing to take to the courts in an effort to prevent Eskom from cutting electricity supply to Evander, Ventersburg, Odendaalsrus, Riebeeckstad, Witbank, Bethal, Secunda, Kriel, Standerton, Emzinoni Township, Embalenhle Township, Graceland Casino, Kinross, Welkom and Hennenman.

AfriForum community structures manager Tiaan Esterhuizen said on Tuesday that Eskom last week started issuing disconnection notices to the municipalities.

“Although AfriForum has sympathy with Eskom’s situation, we cannot allow paying consumers to be shed in darkness. The National Energy Regulator of South Africa and the MEC for Local Government should have stepped in earlier to prevent the accumulation of debt to Eskom,” he stated.

AfriForum also aimed to force the municipalities through a court order to pay their debt.

In the court papers, AfriForum requested municipalities to “clinch a payment agreement” with Eskom and requested that the agreement be made an order of the court.