Issue 204 - FREE
30
November 2018
Community News. Original - accurate - first
017 631 1903 / 017 631 1845 • admin@thebulletin.co.za • 1 Kiewiet Street, Secunda (Lake Umuzi)
Vreugde op Genade Plaas. Lees storie op bladsy 6
Festive lights might not be so bright! Eskom gave notice of planned power interruptions to the Govan Mbeki Municipality for failure to pay their spiralling debt. The notice by Eskom states: “The Municipality has failed to honour the repayment plan agreement entered into on 21 September 2018, followed by a meeting held on 8 October 2018 in Nelspruit. The interruption will resume on Friday, 7 December 2018.” The Mayoral committee led by Mayor Nxgonono, has repeatedly stated
that the Eskom account is under control and that they are honouring all agreements. The Mayor and her team have also obtained a Court Interdict without the approval of the full council to stop the interruptions. The eventual effect is that payments to Eskom ground to a halt. There have been no payments to Eskom since the interdict, according to a source in Eskom. This is in spite of all the assurances that Mayor Thandi Nxgonono gave the council to the
contrary. The claims of “no payment to Eskom” could however not be confirmed at the time of writing this article. The notice by Eskom further states: “Govan Mbeki Local Municipality is currently indebted to Eskom to the amount of R858 394 464,49 (eight hundred and fifty-eight million three hundred and ninety-four thousand four hundred and sixty-four rand and fortynine cents) for bulk electricity supply, part of which has been outstanding
and in escalation since December 2003 (“the electricity debt”).” The following statement comes directly from the Eskom website: “The public notices in the local newspapers give ordinary citizens and the business community the opportunity to provide input to Eskom, but also to engage their municipality on why it is not paying the Eskom account. Continued to page 3