AfriBusiness together with AfriForum waged a battle in court against Eskom after the electricity provider threatened on 29 January 2016 to disconnect some municipalities’ power supply due to non-payment of their electricity accounts.

The application was brought before the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on an urgent basis, where after Eskom undertook not to disrupt power supply.

“In their latest correspondence, the electricity giant has undertaken not to disrupt the power supply to the municipalities involved in the litigation (Kamiesberg and Thembilihle) until the final determination was made in the main application,” said Stefan Pieterse, National Spokesperson for AfriBusiness.

This is good news for the municipal customers affected by Eskom’s threat to stop its supply of power. AfriBusiness will continue their opposition against Eskom’s threats to cut any municipalities’ power supply due to non-payment of accounts, as it is unfair towards the innocent customers who pay their accounts diligently and on time.

Unfortunately, the agreement only covers those municipalities that was part of the above litigation and not every municipality in South Africa. “It is therefore imperative that businesses and members of the public make contact with AfriBusiness if their municipality’s electricity is disconnected. We will then request the Court to join that municipality in the main application,” Pieterse concluded.

Issued by AfriBusiness