Joburg agrees to pay Eskom

After a year of first delayed payments and then refusing to pay, the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) has agreed to pay the October 2024 outstanding Eskom bill, amounting to R1.4 billion of the R4.9 billion invoiced*.

The City’s concession ends months of fighting over power bills and strong indications that the City is in serious financial difficulties.

The dispute has involved e-mailed pleas from Eskom, arbitration, site visits, audits, a court judgment against the City, further court action still underway, an ongoing dispute over billing, and now mediation by Minister of Electricity and Energy Kgosientsho Ramokgopa.

The CoJ agreed to pay R1.4 billion of the R4.9 billion owed to Eskom after an emergency meeting between the CoJ, the Minister, CoJ utility City Power and Eskom, effectively keeping the lights on in the city. An independent assessment into the billing dispute between the CoJ and Eskom will be conducted by the South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI) and a report will be issued to the parties by November 25.

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