Intense negotiations between provincial officials and Eskom have helped keep the lights on in Bedford and Adelaide. Eskom issued a notice of disconnection of bulk electricity supply last month to the two towns, 15 minutes apart, which fall under the Nxuba Municipality.
Intense negotiations between provincial officials and Eskom have helped keep the lights on in Bedford and Adelaide. Eskom issued a notice of disconnection of bulk electricity supply last month to the two towns, 15 minutes apart, which fall under the Nxuba Municipality.
Like its closest neighbour in the other direction – Alicedale, on the old N2 to Port Elizabeth – Bedford, on the Cradock Road, is an hour's drive from Grahamstown. The disconnection was scheduled for Friday, ahead of the past weekend.
Nxuba Municipality had failed to settle a bill of R5.8 million for its bulk electricity. Members of the public were given until Friday 14 January to provide submissions as to why the power should remain connected.
The Eastern Cape's Department of Local Government has since been intervening to prevent this and last week committed R1.5 million towards paying off the debt. Soon after, Nxuba Municipality made a payment of R2m.
Eskom regional spokesperson Ntombekhaya Mafumbatha issued a media release on Friday stating that the planned disconnection of the bulk electricity supply within Nxuba Municipality had been suspended after meetings between officials of the province's Local Government department, Nxuba Municipality and Eskom, on Thursday night and Friday morning.
The statement read: "Commitments made at this morning’s session will be implemented within 14 days to avert any future disconnection of this municipality. "While Eskom is committed to continuously supplying electricity to all our customers, termination of supply still remains the last resort, when all attempts to recover outstanding debt have been exhausted."
Nxuba Municipality's Municipal Manager, Mlamli Bongco, said one of the resolutions was that the municipality should come up with a plan for paying an outstanding amount of R2.3 million. He said this would involve approaching the government departments that owed money to the municipality. Bongco said the municipality had difficulty getting people to pay their municipal accounts.
"Mostly the people here are indigent and have no source of income," he said. Adding to the municipality's woes were electricity theft, illegal connections and the monthly penalty charged by Eskom for Nxuba's exceeding their quota.
"The community is not happy," said Nxuba Municipality's DA Councillor Cecilia Auld. She said there was a strong possibility that residents would march to the town hall next week. "They have lost confidence in the Municipal Manager." Auld said they were calling for the municipality to be managed by someone else. "They want the Municipal Manager gone," Auld said.
But Bongco is determined to take a hard line to prevent a similar crisis in future. "We will be strong. If people cannot pay, they will have their electricity disconnected," he said.
