---
title: "South African Towns Owe Eskom Billions"
description: "South Africa’s top 130 municipalities could write off 8.6 billion rand ($462.8 million) of bad debt for the third quarter, hampering their ability to maintain sewerage systems and streets and pay money owed to suppliers including Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Newsdeck"
author: "Bloomberg"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/bloomberg/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-12-14-south-african-towns-owe-eskom-billions/"
published: "2023-12-14T15:42:38"
updated: "2023-12-14T15:44:54"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 176
---

# South African Towns Owe Eskom Billions

> South Africa’s top 130 municipalities could write off 8.6 billion rand ($462.8 million) of bad debt for the third quarter, hampering their ability to maintain sewerage systems and streets and pay money owed to suppliers including Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd.

By Bloomberg · Published 14 December 2023, 17:42 SAST · Updated 14 December 2023, 17:44 SAST

## Key points
- South African city councils are struggling to collect payments from consumers, resulting in billions of rand of unpaid debt and financial problems for municipalities.
- Total debt impairments for South African metropolitan, district and city councils rose 33% in the three months to Sept. 30.
- Municipalities are owed 306.7 billion rand by consumers and 70 billion rand by Eskom.
- National Treasury announced a debt-relief package for Eskom in February to improve its balance sheet.
- Non-payment of municipal debt remains a systemic challenge.

## Content

Total debt impairments for these metropolitan, district and city councils rose 33% in the three months through Sept. 30 from the second quarter and more than doubled from a year earlier, according to [data](https://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P91101/P91101September2023.pdf) released by Statistics South Africa on Thursday.

South African city councils struggle to collect payments for services and were owed 306.7 billion rand by consumers by the end of September, Treasury data showed last week. In turn, municipalities’ arrears to Eskom rose to 70 billion rand, from 58.5 billion rand six months earlier, adding to the embattled state-owned power utility’s cash-flow problems.

| Read More About Municipalities’ Financial Problems |
| --- |
| - [South Africa’s Towns Are Owed $17 Billion, Face Revenue Squeeze](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-13/south-africa-s-towns-are-owed-17-billion-face-revenue-crunch-due-to-power-cuts) - Sewerage System in Key S. African City Risks Collapse, N24 Says - [S. Africa’s Ramaphosa Plans to Fix Dysfunctional Municipalities](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-09/s-africa-s-ramaphosa-plans-to-fix-dysfunctional-municipalities) |

As part of the debt-relief package that the National Treasury announced for Eskom in February, the utility will write off some municipalities’ debt to improve its balance sheet.

“Non-payment of municipal debt remains a systemic challenge,” Eskom said in its interim results statement on Wednesday.