By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The City of Johannesburg (CoJ) and City Power have lodged an appeal against a high court judgment ordering them to pay an outstanding debt of R1.073 billion to Eskom.
“The City and City Power believe that critical aspects of the evidence were not fully considered by the court in reaching its conclusion,” it said in a statement on Friday, 21 June 2024.
“While we accept and respect the court’s decision, the City reserve the right to appeal the ruling.”
The CoJ added that Eskom avoided its efforts to engage in mediation and Inter-Governmental Relations dispute resolution processes.
“Eskom bypassed these avenues and rushed to court to seek a resolution,” it said.
The Johannesburg High Court ordered the CoJ and City Power to pay Eskom R1.073 billion for various unpaid electricity bills on Thursday, 20 June 2024.
In a sworn statement submitted to the court, Eskom revenue manager Susan Smith said City Power had been rolling its debt with Eskom since October 2023.
She added that the state-owned power utility only wanted the CoJ to get its affairs in order and pay what it acknowledges it aims to Eskom.
“Despite Eskom’s best efforts to accommodate the City of Johannesburg, the matter has reached a point where Eskom can no longer afford to accommodate the CoJ without harming its own business,” she said.
“Eskom is not a bank and does not have the financial means to bankroll the CoJ electricity debt of more than R1 billion.”
While the CoJ acknowledges its debt to Eskom, it claims that the state-owned power utility owes it R3.4 billion for unresolved overbilling dating back to 2021.
Eskom denies the claims made by City Power and will prove its position through the arbitration process, Eskom said.
Meanwhile Eskom plans to apply for an increase of up to 44% in the electricity tariffs it charges customers, and if the power utility has its way, the increase could be implemented as early as April 2025.
In the draft document, Eskom wants to ask Nersa for an increase in the standard tariff it charges non-municipal customers of 36.15% during its financial year 2026; 11.81% in 2027 and 9.10% in 2028. These are customers directly charged by Eskom and supplied with electricity by the power utility.
If approved by Nersa, the first increase would be implemented from 1 April 2025.
Customers relying on electricity supply from local authorities (municipalities) would also be hit hard as Eskom is considering increases of 43.55% in 2026; 3.36% in 2027 and 11.07% in 2028, with the first increase set to be implemented on 1 July 2025.
THe power utility has not implemented rolling blackouts for 85 days. The power utility has attributed this milestone to consistent improvement in generation performance.