Councillor Godfrey Mawela, Musina Local Municipality mayor with General Manager ( Eskom LimLanga Cluster),Mr. Collin Reddy.
Eskom in Limpopo recently received a payment of R73 million from the Musina Local Municipality to settle their debt.
This was no ordinary payment; it marked a significant milestone for Eskom, the Musina Local Municipality, the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and Human Settlement (CoGHSTA) and the Limpopo Treasury. In making this payment as full and final settlement of the overdue debt, the municipality successfully honoured the conditions of the payment arrangement signed between the two organisations in November 2019 as facilitated by the Head of Department (HOD) – CoGHSTA Limpopo and the Office of the Limpopo Treasury.
According to Eskom, the settlement reflects the potential for success in South Africa when several people and organisations work together towards a common goal.
Critically, for the power utility, it allows for the costs of electricity generation, transmission, and distribution to be recovered, allowing Eskom, as one of the largest Power Utilities in the world, to be self-sustainable.
Eskom is grateful for the thorough and professional way the municipality has conducted itself during the tenure of the debt. This is demonstrated by the fact that the payment arrangement has been settled ahead (07 July 2023) of the targets of the agreement (20 December 2023).
“Eskom would like to acknowledge the dedication and commitment of the municipality leadership in resolving the various challenges over the past three and half years. The municipality, under the leadership of Mayor Godfrey Mawela, communicated any concerns and challenges proactively to Eskom, and this in turn allowed for further discussions to keep the payment arrangement conditions intact. Critically, the promises made were followed through with concrete actions. Without this physical discharge of the commitments made, the conditions of the payment arrangement would have lapsed, and Eskom would not have been able to fulfil its side of the equation,” says Collin Reddy, General Manager – Distribution LimLanga Cluster (Limpopo and Mpumalanga).
Eskom looks forward to other municipalities, who are in a similar position, to take a leaf from the Musina Local Municipality book, and similarly discharge their obligations.Eskom would like to place on record its gratitude to the office of MEC CoGHSTA, Office of the Head of Department (HOD) CoGHSTA Limpopo and her staff, the Office of Municipal Finance- Limpopo Treasury and staff, as well as Eskom staff who worked tirelessly to ensure the success that we now celebrate.
Mr. Collin Reddy, General Manager, Eskom LimLanga Cluster.
Eskom officials: left Mr. Collin Reddy, General Manager, Nosipho Masakona(Senior Manager Customer service), Paul Matiwani (Senior Manager Operations and Maintenance.
Stakeholders, municipality officials in attendance