The City of Johannesburg has come out and said that state utility Eskom owes the metro R3.4 billion in overcharges.
This is a direct response and retaliation after Eskom announced that it would be taking City Power to court over R1 billion in unpaid bills.
Eskom said that as of March 2023, City Power’s debt has reached R1.073 billion.
Eskom is seeking a declaratory order that will force City Power to pay the company what it is owed. A hearing has been set for June 4.
The utility said the Joburg City Power started to default on their payments in October 2023 and the utility has received no payments since March 2024.
Not the full story
The City of Joburg is arguing that Eskom is not giving a full picture, and in fact, said that the utility owes the city billions of rands due to inaccurate overcharging for the last three years.
“Following multiple discussions regarding queries lodged in connection with grossly inaccurate billing on bulk purchase invoices, Eskom has opted to ignore those issues and rushed to the courts,” City of Joburg said.
“The city is of the strong view that the financial obligations of City Power to Eskom versus the financial obligations of Eskom to the city should be treated in the same manner and symmetrically.”
The metro said that Eskom has been overbilling for services each month since 2021.
Moreover, the City of Joburg argued that it forks out R1 billion for electricity each month and is still committed to paying the utility for its services.
R483 million
In the past, Eskom admitted that in some cases there had been potential billing inaccuracies. In recent years, Eskom has refunded City Power around R483 million for these inaccuracies.
The City of Joburg is therefore calling for an independent electricity expert to provide an assessment of the situation and what Eskom may or may not owe the City.
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