‘ESKOM infrastructure in a dismal state,’ says minister

Speaking at his weekly Energy Action Plan update, the Minister of Electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, shed new light on the state of the Eskom infrastructure.

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Saying the distribution system was in a poor state, he laid the blame at the feet of municipalities who underinvested in the Eskom infrastructure and the ongoing problem of illegal connections.

STATE OF ESKOM INFRASTRUCTURE

On the topic of underinvestment, figures quoted from Infrastructure South Africa show the country’s municipalities have underspent on the distribution infrastructure by R30 billion over the last decade.

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Critical substations and transformers are failing because they are unable to handle the demand placed on them. Communities and industries are not getting the electricity they deserve and paid for, due to the failings of municipalities, explained the minister.

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Many municipalities are in dire financial strife and are unable to invest money in the Eskom infrastructure. On that point, the minister said Eskom was working with the South African Local Government Association to help address municipalities’ financial challenges.

MUNICIPALITIES ARE BROKE

The Minister of Electricity warned that the financial situation of some municipalities was of huge concern. “Some are insolvent and not raising sufficient revenue to meet their operational activities,” he said.

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As it stands, municipalities have mounting debt to Eskom of R63.2 billion. The top 20 municipalities account for 77% of that amount, or R48.9 billion. “The growth of debt for the year-to-date is R4.7 billion,” said Ramokgopa.

ILLEGAL CONNECTIONS

Finally, the minister reiterated the burden that illegal connections place on the Eskom infrastructure. People are consuming power they have not paid for and these connections overburden the grid, resulting in power failures.

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Each municipality contracts a certain amount of power from Eskom. This is called the Notified Maximum Demand (NMD). When illegal connections go over and above NMD, Eskom needs to implement load reductions in these municipalities.

“The casualties are good-paying residents,” concluded Ramokgopa.

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