City Power, the power utility run by the City of Joburg, says it has noted the judgment delivered by the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg in which its application to stay the R3.4 billion it allegedly owes to power utility, Eskom, was dismissed with costs.
On Friday, in a statement, City Power spokesperson, Isaac Mangena, indicated that the City would be studying the judgment of the high court before commenting further.
"We have noted the judgment in the case between Eskom and City Power. We obviously, do not agree with it and we reserve the right to appeal. We have briefed our attorneys, and we will issue a statement later today on our next course of action," said Mangena.
On Thursday, the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg ordered the City of Joburg and its power utility, City Power, to pay Eskom R1.073 billion plus interest for unpaid services.
This comes after Eskom took the City to court over an unpaid account since October 2023.
In its attempts to get away with the bill, the City submitted its own counter claim of R3.4 billion., saying it was part of an over-billing error.
In a statement, Eskom Gauteng spokesperson Amanda Qithi welcomed the judgment, saying they felt vindicated by the ruling.
"The matte was heard on June 4 with the total owed to Eskom being R3.4billion. In response to our claim, the City brought a counter-claim, alleging potential over-billing and that as a result, it has applied for automatic set-off against (the) Eskom account. However, the court dismissed the City's counter-claim with costs. We have written to COJ, requesting the payment of the full amount of R3.4 billion by (yesterday) June 21," she said.
IOL reported that Eskom stated that it had obtained a court order on Thursday against the City of Joburg, demanding that the municipality settle its debt of over R1 billion, which has escalated to R3.4 billion due to interest.
“Eskom has written a letter to City of Joburg and City Power demanding payment of the full amount of R3.4 billion by June 21, 2024, and we hope they will respect the court decision and settle all outstanding debts to Eskom,” the utility said in a statement.
Saturday Star