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Eskom started sending out notices to towns last week, informing communities that the electricity supplier plans on implementing extra load shedding or to cut electricity supply to some towns from 5 June 2015.

Towns that have received notices include:

Witbank

Ventersburg

Bethal

Odendaalsrus

Secunda

Riebeeckstad

Kriel

Kinross

Standerton

Graceland Casino

Welkom

Emzinoni Township

Hennenman

Embalenhle Township

Evander

AfriForum has given their legal team instruction to prepare court papers in preventing Eskom from cutting electricity supply and to force municipalities to pay their Eskom debt.

“AfriForum will serve the first court papers on various respondents,” Tiaan Esterhuizen, Manager of Community Structures at AfriForum said.

“Although AfriForum has sympathy with Eskom’s situation, we cannot allow paying consumers to be shed in darkness. NERSA and the MEC for Local Government should’ve stepped in earlier to prevent the accumulation of debt to Eskom.”

In the court papers, AfriForum requests municipalities to clinch a payment agreement with Eskom, and also requests that the agreement be made an order of the court.

It will enable Eskom to follow the contempt of court route if municipalities fail to pay their debt.

Esterhuizen calls on communities which receive notices to e–mail it to tiaan@afriforum.co.za.

Issued by AfriForum