Bloemfontein: Electricity challenges and the development of interventions on municipal management will come to the fore at Minister of Electricity and Energy, Dr. Kgosientsho Ramokgopa’s engagement with the Free State provincial government and local municipalities today. Monday’s meeting outcomes, amongst others, will develop strategies that will ensure that municipalities are able to meet their obligations to Eskom, thereby ensuring reliable electricity supply for their respective municipalities.

According to South African Government News Agency, Free State Premier Maqueen Letsoha-Mathae and the Minister will lead an intergovernmental intervention team with all municipalities in the province. The seventh administration’s commitment towards a functional local government that’s able to meet its obligation is displayed by the approach taken by the three spheres of government. Majority of the municipalities have been put under section 139 intervention of the Constitution in the stead of the Provincial Executive. This stems from historical municipalities’ debts of both arrears and current accounts to pay Eskom for electricity distribution.

The municipalities’ inability to collect revenue from debtors and maintain sustainable credit control has been influenced by a myriad of reasons which the intergovernmental dialogue will be vested with among many other areas of concern. Over the years, the situation has worsened and had adverse effects on service delivery within the communities, impacting operations of corporates and small businesses within those municipalities.

The situation needs an integrated approach which will ensure a sustainable intervention plan looking at medium to long-term solutions. Some of these plans might require financial reconfiguration, particularly given the country’s ongoing fiscal consolidation efforts.