State power utility Eskom says efforts to restore power to parts of the Eastern Cape are on track following delays due to persistent heavy storms in the area.
According to Eskom, the storms have caused damage and interrupted power supply to villages in the Chris Hani, Amathole, OR Tambo and Alfred Nzo district municipalities.
Eskom has been battling to restore full power to the areas since December last year due to the heavy rainfall with additional teams deployed to the areas to assist in the restoration process.
“The storms that keep on hitting the province are causing more damage and sometimes delay our restoration efforts in some of the areas. Access in some areas is also an issue as some of the roads are damaged or washed away.
“Eskom continues to urge affected customers to be patient and treat all electric appliances as live at this time,” the power utility said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Eskom has called on the City of Tshwane to honour payments on its R635 million debt to the power utility.
“[Payment] patterns have been irregular over the past six months and have contributed negatively to Eskom’s increasing overdue debt which is in excess of R43.8 billion. Over the past months, we have engaged the City on these irregular payments and the impact they have on Eskom to keep the lights on.
“The overdue debt has contributed negatively to the liquidity, financial performance and sustainability of the organisation, where Eskom has to borrow to meet its financial commitments. As a utility, we are obliged to operate this business in a sustainable manner, and to consequently take all the appropriate measures to recover money owed to us,” Eskom said.
The power utility has initiated talks with the relevant stakeholders to “put an end to the increasing debt”.
“We remain hopeful that the City will review its current position regarding the appeals made to them by Eskom and honour their payment,” the power utility said. – SAnews.gov.za
