Madibeng Municipality may be left in the dark over unpaid bills

A person next to a paraffin light during an electricity blackout.

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The Madibeng Local Municipality in Brits in the North West is facing a potential blackout.

This is due to unpaid electricity and water bills totalling R129 million owed to the City of Tshwane as of October 31 this year.

This debt has prompted Tshwane officials to issue a notice of disconnection.

Energy Expert Sampson Mamphweli says, “In some cases, municipalities collect the revenue from selling electricity and they redirect the revenue to other municipal services, especially where they see greater areas of concern by various creditors being expressed and they end up not paying Eskom for the bulk electricity purchase.”

Meanwhile, the City of Tshwane says they have been trying to resolve the outstanding debt issue with the municipality, however, their proposed payment arrangement has been rejected.

Spokesperson Lindela Mashigo says, “The City of Tshwane received a payment proposal from the Madibeng Municipality, proposing a payment extension from a 30-day period to 45 days and also suggesting a settlement plan of the outstanding amount by the 31^st of March 2025. The arrangement was not considered by Tshwane since it is not favourable to the city’s financial state. A detailed response letter was sent to the municipal manager of the Madibeng Local Municipality to consider a revised proposal which also stated clearly that failure to pay will result in disconnection of services. To date, no payments have been received.”