Sol Plaatje must turn streetlights on for festive season
| by Willie Aucamp, MP – DA Constituency Head of Kalahari |
| Date: 06 October 2020 |
| Release: Immediate |
| Note to Editors: Please find attached soundbites in English & Afrikaans from Willie Aucamp, MP. The Democratic Alliance (DA) is making an urgent appeal to Northern Cape MEC of COGHSTA, Bentley Vass, to ensure that all four of the debt-ridden municipalities that are due to have their power disconnected by Eskom tomorrow, are spared this ordeal.Just last week, the DA highlighted the fact that due to collective municipal arrears amounting to more than R280 million, Eskom planned to shut down the bulk electricity supply to Tsantsabane, Emthanjeni, Kamiesberg and the Richtersveld local municipalities.Whilst it remains uncertain as to which of the other municipalities have thus far managed to successfully renegotiate their payment deals with Eskom, the DA is aware that at least Tsantsabane municipality has so far failed to make a new payment arrangement with Eskom. In effect, the people of Postmasburg will start experiencing 12 hour shifts of loadshedding starting from tomorrow, if no intervention is forthcoming before then.This is deeply disappointing and worrying and signifies a dire lack of political will on the part of municipalities to actually stick to their payment plans.The DA has time and again drawn attention to the fact that more and more municipalities are willfully failing to adhere to the conditions of their agreements. If Northern Cape municipalities are not careful, they could soon be faced with a situation whereby Eskom starts attaching municipal farmland as security for unpaid municipal debt, as has been the case in the Free State.The DA is reiterating our previous pleas to Vass to step up to the plate and ensure that sustainable solutions are implemented to ensure that municipalities stop defaulting on their Eskom debt. If this means ringfencing the funds and having Provincial Treasury administer these funds, then so be it. We simply cannot continue on the same dark and broken path anymore. |
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