Cape Town — Minister of Electricity and Energy, Kgotsientsho Ramokgopa, gave an update on the Key Revision Number (KRN) prepaid meter programme on Wednesday.
During his address, Ramokgopa touched on several key issues including the cut-off date for all payments, fines that will be issued for non-compliance, and the number of outstanding payments.
According to Jacaranda, Ramokgopa said the number of outstanding payments currently stands at 1.7 million people, but the number has dwindled significantly.
“We have seen that that number now has come down by 400 000 people since that period, though. That number is now sitting at R1.7 million, and they have not presented themselves. I have heard from multiple Cooperative and Traditional Affairs [departments] that there has been sufficient communication by Eskom. The messaging started in October last year,” Ramokgopa said.
He explained that some people have still not migrated yet as they were still consuming electricity illegally.
According to EWN, He said illegal electricity users have until 13 December 2024 to make an admission of guilt, and those who come forward would receive a fine of R6 000, which can be off over a year.
“They could come even after the 24th. We will regularise them with an admission that they have been tampering instead of using the illegal platform in admission, and then there is what we call the tamper fines,” he said.
Ramaokgopa added that illegal electricity users were still costing the economy up to R2 million per month.
Ramokgopa also revealed that the City of Johannesburg and City Power has requested an extension to settle their outstanding debts to Eskom, Newzroom Afrika reported.
“The agreement, the last time I heard, and that was yesterday, they had not paid. I’ll wait for the official report and then I’ll share with you what the next steps are. You can imagine, in that situation, the report will come, but we know that City Power also has tremendous challenges,” he said.
“It’s not a City Power problem, it’s not an Eskom problem, it’s a sector problem. But that sector problem now has evolved to become a sovereign problem. When I say it’s a sovereign problem, is that someone must bail these people out and that person to bail the people out is the fiscus, everyone will be shouting at [Finance] Minister [Enoch] Godongwana,” Ramokgopa said.
He said that bailouts involve reallocation of funds in other departments to fund the bailout and be forced to scale down on other things, which cannot be afforded now.
“We are at this point where I don’t think we can afford to go further, a very unpopular statement in certain quarters, but it must be said. We are the ones who are meant to run government and it’s important that people must pay for the services they must consume,” he said.
“We can’t continue in this fashion,” he added.
[WATCH] Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says the City of Johannesburg has not yet paid its debt to Eskom in terms of the agreement. #Newzroom405 pic.twitter.com/kTIXNy6MM6
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) November 27, 2024
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
