Residents from three municipalities in the Eastern Cape have only two weeks to prepare for large-scale blackouts which would be implemented daily for hours at a time.
This comes as the Dr Beyers Naude, Inxuba Yethemba and Great Kei municipalities failed to pay millions of rands they owe to power utility Eskom.
Eskom announced in a newspaper advert: “After careful consideration of all the presentations and the overall impact of the escalating municipal debt, Eskom has taken a decision to proceed with the contemplated interruption of bulk electricity supply.”
The power interruptions will start on October 30.
During week one, electricity will be off for three hours from 6am-9am and then from 5pm8.30pm weekdays, and on Saturday and Sunday electricity will be off from 8.30am-12pm and then again from 3pm-7pm.
From week two onwards, the power will be off from 6am to 8pm every day.
“Eskom may, upon 15 calendar days’ notice, serve the right to disconnect electricity entirely and indefinitely should the electricity debt situation not improve,” it said.
The towns that will be affected are Willowmore, Jansenville, Steytlerville, Middelburg and Komga.
Dr Beyers Naude municipal manager Edward Rankwana said no formal communication regarding the interruptions of the power supply had been received from Eskom.
Rankwana said they had offered the power utility three payment arrangements on different occasions without success.
“Since the amalgamation of the three municipalities in August 2016, Eskom has been overcharging Steytlerville, Willowmore, Jansenville and Aberdeen,” Rankwana said.
“Eskom confirmed and on October 12 2018 the municipality instructed them to convert the tariffs. Eskom should be held accountable and reimburse the municipality for the incorrect tariffs.”
Inxuba Yethemba municipal manager Xolela Msweli said they were still in discussions with Eskom and had presented a payment plan.
“We’re optimistic that we won’t reach that level where our electricity will be switched off. Before the end of October, we would have made a payment to Eskom to avert this,” Msweli said.
Meanwhile, residents in the Free State in Masilonyana local municipality experienced their first electricity supply interruption early on Wednesday.
Eskom spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe confirmed that power interruptions – for three hours – had started on Wednesday in five towns, including Winburg‚ Brandfort and Theunissen.