Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has denied suggestions that he made a pronouncement on the scrapping of Soweto residents’ Eskom debt.
Instead, the premier has blamed his recent comments on a “linguistic error”.
Last week, media reports suggested that Lesufi allegedly told a crowd of ANC members that all long-standing electricity debts to Eskom had been written off.
Eskom said it had not communicated anything regarding the scrapping of household debts to the power utility, adding that that would not be possible as Eskom owed its creditors.
“There was no such decision made and they were, in fact, battling to bring down municipal debt that had ballooned to R58.5 billion.”
In a statement on Monday, Lesufi, through his spokesperson, Sizwe Pamla, said the premier was concerned about claims that he made untrue assertions regarding cancelling the debt.
🛑 Lie-sufi strikes again!
— DA Gauteng (@DAGauteng) November 29, 2023
The DA in Gauteng condemns the unapologetic lies being spread by Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi in the strongest terms. All debt to Eskom has not been forgiven, nor can he claim that it has. pic.twitter.com/8C1TbTiSR3
Pamla said Lesufi was misquoted, adding that there was a linguistic error on his part.
“When explaining the debt relief programme offered by Eskom at the ANC workshop, he made an error and referred to debt relief to communities rather than municipalities.
“Linguistic errors sometimes occur when one tries to simplify complex government policy into programmes that are accessible and understandable to the public,” Pamla said.
Pamla said Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana had recently spoken about the matter during his mid-term 2023 Budget speech, that all municipalities owing Eskom would receive conditional debt relief.
He said that according to the minister, that suggested that any municipality that owed Eskom money in arrears, interest or penalties was eligible for the relief, provided that the council’s written application to the National Treasury was successful.
“The National Treasury released the guidelines and application process for Municipal Debt Relief in Municipal Finance Management Act Circular No. 124. Several Gauteng Municipalities, including Emfuleni Municipality, requested relief within this framework, which was granted.”
Pamla said the Gauteng government, through the Office of the Premier, had been leading the fight for the cancellation of Eskom debt.
“The Gauteng government has taken the lead in advocating for the cancellation of municipal and community debt.
“During its Energy Indaba, earlier this year, a five-point strategy was adopted that involves eliminating all illegal power connections, installing smart meters in every home and business, improving revenue collection by cleaning the billing system, cleaning the indigent register, and replacing all damaged transformers”
Pamla said that over the past year, since taking over as the premier, Lesufi had worked towards uniting the government and other stakeholders which had translated to a provincewide Transformer Replacement Program.
“More than most, Premier Lesufi has worked to foster stakeholder co-operation and to promote an electricity payment culture throughout the province.
“As part of the Transformer Replacement initiative, he arranges weekly meetings with non-paying communities to ensure they understand and appreciate their responsibilities while educating those living in poverty about the type of assistance available,” he said.
The Star