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Emfuleni municipality and Eskom have reached an agreement by officially signing a distribution agency agreement as instructed by the Pretoria high court order dating July 5, 2023.
The court ordered that the municipality must appoint Eskom as its service delivery agent to perform all functions relating to the municipality’s electricity business on its behalf.
The cash-strapped municipality also reached an agreement to ensure that it is able to pay salaries to its employees after workers were not paid on time at the end of last month.
In September 11, 2024 – the power utility attached Emfuleni’s four bank accounts in a bid to recoup R8 billion owed by the municipality for non-payment of the bulk electricity.
Eskom said it is committed to working closely with Emfuleni and other stakeholders to ensure a smooth transition.
The municipality has committed to cooperate with Eskom and comply with the distribution agency agreement,” the statement read.
Meanwhile, Emfuleni spokesperson, Makhosonke Sangweni has apologised to residents affected on provision of services over the past few days.
Lesufi intervene in Emfuleni impasse
He also extended the apologies to all employees for the anguish and inconvenience caused by the dispute between the institution and the power utility.
“We take the opportunity to appreciate the intervention and collective work carried out by the electricity and energy minister, finance minister, COGTA minister and Gauteng premier in leading the negotiations that resulted in the resolution of the impasse.
“We acknowledge the patience and collaboration of all stakeholders, labour unions and employees during these trying times,” he stated.
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Sangweni added that they are looking forward to resuming and normalising all operations on Thursday and pleaded with all consumers to pay their services and do away with illegal connections.
“This is a determined call to residential and business consumers to support their democratic government in ensuring that services are rendered as expected to ensure that Emfuleni remains a municipality of choice,” he concluded.
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