Representatives of Eskom presented Musina Municipality with a special award for honouring the debt-payment arrangement and settling their Eskom account, which had accumulated over many years. The event took place at Musina Municipality’s council chamber on Monday, 28 August.

Last week, Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa announced that South African municipalities owed Eskom more than R63 billion in combined debt, adding that this figure was continuing to rise exponentially. He warned that the ongoing debt struggles could result in even longer power cuts for Eskom.

In 2017, Musina Municipality owed Eskom R115 million, and a repayment plan was conceived. When the current council took over in November 2021, the municipality still owed Eskom R60.9 million. A year later, the debt had been reduced by R20 million, with the balance remaining at R46.9 million.

During his mayoral budget speech on 29 June this year, Musina Mayor Nkhanedzeni Godfrey Mawela announced that the balance was R16.9 million. This amount has now also been settled, leaving the municipality with only the current account to pay.

On receiving the award, Mayor Mawela said that, despite the gloomy picture, Musina Municipality was proud to have achieved what so many municipalities countrywide were failing to do. “Settling this debt means that we are minimising power cuts and also contributing to community development, as the millions we used to service the debt will now be redirected to other service-delivery initiatives.”

Mawela thanked De Beers Venetia Mine, Musina Mall, Tiger Brands, M-Pak, and Matshivha Holdings, their top five customers, who are servicing their municipal accounts excellently and who were also invited to be part of the occasion. He also thanked all the consumers who are paying their accounts timeously and encouraged everyone to pay for their municipal services.

Eskom’s LimLanga (Limpopo and Mpumalanga) cluster general manager, Mr Collin Reddy, thanked Musina Municipality and said their debt settlement should motivate other institutions across the country to honour their payment arrangements.