Some of the Free State municipalities indebted to Eskom have made payment.
Five of these defaulting municipalities settled their current accounts, while others paid substantial amounts.
Those that most recently settled their current accounts are the Mangaung Metro, Moqhaka, Mantsopa and Setsoto. This is after Maluti-a-Phofung paid R54 million to settle its account.
The power supplier also received substantial payments from Nala, Matjhabeng, Ngwathe, Phumelela, Mafube, Dihlabeng, Tswelopele and Letsemeng.
At the time of Express going to print, three municipalities – Nketoana, Masilonyana and Tokologo – faced blackout after having failed to make payment.
Eskom revealed that by the end of February this year it was owed R16 billion by the 16 defaulting municipalities combined.
The listed municipalities are yet to make payment towards their escalating historical debt.
According to Stefanie Jansen van Rensburg, spokesperson for Eskom in the Free State, no new payment plans have been concluded with any of the debt-ridden municipalities.
Of the 19 municipalities in the province, the now coalition-governed Metsimaholo Municipality is the only one that has no overdue debt.
