Gauteng’s Emfuleni Local Municipality has confirmed that it has finally paid its employees their September salaries after weeks of uncertainty about whether it would be able to do so.
This came on the back of a court judgment allowing Eskom to attach the municipality’s bank accounts, after Emfuleni accrued arrears of some R8 billion. This sum represents around 10% of the amount owed to Eskom by municipalities across the country.
Eskom said that it had attempted to engage the municipality about debt relief, but it had shown no interest in this.
A spokesperson for Emfuleni, Makhosonke Sangweni, said that an agreement had been reached whereby Emfuleni would pay Eskom 10% of its electricity revenue monthly.
Sangweni said that it would move forward cooperatively with Eskom: “This means that ourselves and Eskom, we are going to work together. They are going to be responsible for production and we are both going to be responsible for distribution. We are going to share profits between ourselves and them.”
[Photo: Screenshot/NewzRoom Afrika]