Municipality has five days to pay, says Eskom

Eskom on Tuesday gave the Mafube municipality (Frankfort) an extension of five working days to pay its outstanding debt, after the municipality did not make the deadline for payment, the parastatal said.

"Eskom is happy to announce that the outstanding municipal debt by municipalities in the Free State has been settled to our satisfaction," it said in a statement.

"The only outstanding account is that of the Mafube municipality. Eskom has agreed to grant the Mafube municipality an additional five working days to settle their outstanding account."

The national power utility said it had not cut off its electricity supply to the municipality despite it missing Eskom's Tuesday deadline.

Eskom had issued 11 Free State municipalities with notices of its intention to disconnect their electricity supply should they not settle their outstanding accounts before July 20.

Eskom threatened to disconnect the Mafube municipality's power supply if it did not pay by July 27.

"We prefer to engage in dialogue and mediation with municipalities and other local and national governmental stakeholders to agree on acceptable settlement options."

Eskom did not disclose the amounts being owed by the municipality due to client confidentiality. - Sapa