Eskom's patience with the non-payment of accounts by Mpumalanga's municipalities have reached breaking point to such an extent that it has capped the amount of power supplied to these entities.
One of the towns hardest hit by this capping is Bethal, which falls under the control of the Govan Mbeki Municipality in Secunda.
The latest reports, tabled by the departments of cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) and human settlement before the provincial portfolio committees, indicate that the 21 municipalities in the province owe Eskom around R8 billion.
Claassen was so frustrated about the untimely power cuts in Bethal and neighbouring Emzinoni that she started a petition on Change.com, which garnered 3 000 signatures.
According to a report by the Gert Sibande District Municipality, the Govan Mbeki Municipality is losing around 51% of its electricity purchased owing to illegal connections.
