It seems Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi is on a mission to remove Soweto's debt to Eskom.
Moreover, the premier argues that South African townships, hostels and informal settlements should receive ‘debt forgiveness’ from government and, as such, its parastatals like Eskom.
In a tweet last week, Lesufi called on Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana to address these debt needs.
“Minister Godongwana, we truly appreciate how you respect negotiations,” Lesufi said.
“Can we safely assume that the Soweto Eskom Electricity debt and that of other townships is also scrapped, as per our intensive lobby? To start developing townships, the debt must also go.”
It should be noted that according to News24, by the end of September 2022, Soweto owed Eskom close to R5 billion (estimated R4.7billion).
GOVERNMENT HAS DONE THIS BEFORE
There have been cases where the government has forgiven debt and settled billions. The government has said that it will cough up billions to settler Sanral's e-toll debt, and it seems that Lesufi wants the same for Soweto and other townships.
In fact, it should also be noted that the state utility has already scrapped billions in unpaid electricity bills. In 2020 Eskom wrote off almost R8 billion from Soweto’s overdue debt, according to News24.
THE PREMIER EXPANDS ON HIS ARGUMENT
The premier argues that he would like to redevelop townships from their current state and into “centres of growth.”
“Our argument remains, if Eskom debt is taken over by the central government, what our people owe Eskom in townships, informal settlements, and hostels must also be scrapped.”
“We need to reposition our townships, informal settlements and hostels so that they can be centres of growth.”
“Our freedom will be meaningless if our townships, informal settlements and hostels remain the way they are. To start to develop our townships, informal settlements and hostels, we need to take bold steps that will make these areas the new economic growth points”, Lesufi said.
REACTION
It comes at now surprise that many people on Twitter reacted to Premier Lesufi’s comments. This is what a few South Africans had to say:
Haai mara lona ma ANC, this is just damage control to the problems that you created, kopa oska mblocka Mr Premier for calling you out
My premier you’re on a mission, ka bona… I like how bold your moves are!
— Tshepo kgwatlha (@KgwatlhaTshepo) October 27, 2022
Premier talking about debt cancellation, now here is something that I didn’t expect! I love elections!
— Sunny the Solar Guy! (⧖) (@sunnyboymorgan) October 28, 2022
Why are you posturing on Twitter when you're part of the same ruling party?
You cannot scrap the debt for one township and taxpayers are not going to foot the bill for all townships
— Wendy Crause (@WendyCrause) October 27, 2022
Pay your own debt..
Stop having children and break the cycle of poverty
And after the scrapping of Soweto debt they will miraculously start to pay for electricity.
— Ray (@Ray14588903) October 27, 2022
THIS MAY NOT BE THE BEST TIME!
This may not be a right time for Eskom to scrap billions of rands worth of debt, given its current financial position and its need for more funding from government.
Eskom is currently scrambling to find funding of R72 billion to upgrade its power grid amid investor scepticism about recovering debt, if you can believe it.
Eskom's quest for a R72 billion injection over the next five years to upgrade over 2 890km of extra high voltage lines and 60 transformers would hit a snag as the power utility does not inspire the confidence of international funders.
Eskom's managing director for transmission, Segomoco Scheppers, said last Friday the entity is placing a strong focus on the implementation of these projects over the next five years.
“The analysis carried out reflects a requirement of close to R72.2bn will be required to expand and strengthen the transmission grid over the next five years,” he said.
Scheppers said: “This requires that some challenges beyond Eskom’s full control, such as the lead time to obtain servitudes, among other relevant authorisations, as well as the resource capacity in the country, be urgently addressed.
Read more on this here!
HAVE YOUR SAY
Do you agree with JHB Premier Lesufi, that Eskom should forgive the debt owned by townships?
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