The African National Congress (ANC) has vowed to embark on a mass campaign against nonpayment of services.
This is according to the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC), which concluded a series of meetings over the weekend.
ANC Secretary General Ace Magashule said at a press briefing on Wednesday that municipalities must pay debts owed to Eskom.
The ANC will immediately embark on a mass campaign to mobilise and encourage society to pay for services.
Municipalities owing Eskom and water boards must settle outstanding debts or make arrangements to do so.
ANC NEC
Similarly, the ANC urged Eskom and water boards to refund municipalities that have been overcharged.
User pays principle
Speaking at the press briefing, ANC NEC member and Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni reiterated government’s “user pays principle.”
Services rendered must be paid for. All of us must generate this culture of paying for services rendered.
Tito Mboweni
He referred to “a famous township in Gauteng” which owed Eskom R18 billion, saying it must pay the debt.
Although he didn’t mention the name, the township in question is Soweto.
Eskom senior operations manager Daphne Mokwena said in June that much of Soweto’s astronomical debt is made up of interest accumulated from years of nonpayment.
R21.1 billion owed
In an email to Fin24 in June, Eskom spokesperson Dikatso Mothae put the total capital debt owed by municipalities at R21.1 billion.
Courts have also interdicted Eskom from interrupting electricity supply to 25 defaulting municipalities.
Eskom has had to rely on huge government bailouts to stay afloat and its overall debt now stands at almost R450 billion.