By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
City Power has been granted leave to appeal against a ruling by the Johannesburg high court that favoured power utility Eskom over a billing dispute.
In June 2024, the High Court ordered the City of Johannesburg and City Power were ordered to pay over R1 billion, plus interest accrued, to Eskom for the cost of bulk electricity supply services for March.
While it was seeking just over R1 billion plus interest accrued for the cost of bulk electricity supply services for March, Eskom noted that the outstanding amount had ballooned to R3.4 billion by the time the application was lodged.
In turn, the City of Joburg laid a counterclaim against Eskom, alleging that it was, in fact, the aggrieved party.
The city maintained that Eskom not only bypassed efforts to engage and mediate with it—instead opting for court processes—but also alleged that Eskom owed it R3.4 billion in overcharges and overbilling.
The court ultimately ruled against the city and, notably, dismissed its counterclaim.
Following consultation with legal representations, City Power submitted an application to appeal the court’s ruling on Tuesday, 6 August 2024.
The presiding Judge NH Maenetje,”was convinced by the arguments presented and granted leave to appeal, citing reasonable prospects of success in the appeal court”, the city said.
“Furthermore, the court dismissed Eskom’s conditional application for City Power to pay the disputed amount pending the finalisation of the appeal application, “it said.
The judge ruled that Eskom would not suffer irreparable damage and suspended the order until the appeal court decides otherwise. In addition, Eskom was ordered to pay the costs of two legal counsels.
“City Power welcomes this development and looks forward to presenting its case in the appeal court,” it said.
According to energy minister Kgosientsho Ramakgopa, Eskom is owed over R78 billion by municipalities, with reports putting the figure as high as R82 billion.
The minister pointed out that municipalities are owed R349 billion by various customers, including households, businesses and government.
This, among various other governance issues (corruption, mismanagement and maladministration), has led to a significant deterioration of infrastructure and service delivery in many places.