Residents of the Masilonyana Local Municipality in the Free State experienced their first electricity supply interruption early on Wednesday because the municipality had failed to settle outstanding debts with Eskom.
Eskom said on Tuesday that the municipality‚ covering five towns including Winburg‚ Brandfort and Theunissen‚ owed it R39.8m for electricity.
Eskom warned that it would start interrupting the power supply from Wednesday‚ from 6am to 9am and from 5pm to 8:30pm‚ until the municipality reached an acceptable payment arrangement with the power utility. Should no agreement be reached‚ electricity would be interrupted for 14 hours a day from October 24 onwards.
Eskom spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe confirmed that power interruptions – for three hours – had started on Wednesday.