Electricity and Energy on meeting with Eskom to avert potential electricity crisis in City of Johannesburg

The High-level engagement convened by the Minister of Electricity and Energy, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, and The Executive Mayor of The City of Johannesburg, Cllr Dada Morero this morning, 11 November 2024, with Executives of Eskom and City Power has resulted in an agreement aimed at averting a potential electricity crisis for the City of Johannesburg, through a process to resolve the debt dispute and public notice issued by Eskom last week.

The agreement reached by all parties in the candid and constructive engagements are underpinned by four principles outline by the Minister as follows:

1.    The respect for inter-governmental framework characterised by an honest and concerted effort to exhaust all internal process.
2.    The User Pay Principle where in an event of a dispute the user is still obligated to pay whilst a resolution process is underway, decoupling the obligation to pay from and a billing query.
3.    The service provider has an obligation to ensure accurate billing
4.    An appreciation that there can be no unilateral implementation of an action or more than one version of what the facts are.

The first resolution is on the appointment of independent technical capacity to evaluate and validate the credibility of the bill levied by Eskom to City Power. In this regard, both parties have agreed that The South African Energy Development Institute (SANEDI) will undertake this process.

The second resolution is on a 14 days turnaround timeframe for the assessment report to be presented to all parties, the set date being 25 November 2024.

The third resolution is that City Power will pay the current account in order for the notice of intention to interrupt power supply to the City of Johannesburg, issued by Eskom, to be withdrawn.

Lastly, is the agreement on the importance of the Minister and the Executive Mayor to assure business and households that there is no crisis.

The Minister and the Executive Mayor further expressed their appreciation of the willingness of the two parties to work together to ensure the uninterrupted provision of services to the country’s economic nerve centre and its residents.

Media enquiries:

Tsakane Khambane, Spokesperson in Ministry of Electricity and Energy 
Cell: 082 084 5566
E-mail: Tsakane.Khambane@dmre.gov.za

Chris Vondo, Spokesperson to the Executive Mayor of The City of Johannesburg 
Cell: 079 851 9908
E-mail: mediaqueries@joburg.org.za

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