Agriculture
Organised agriculture reacts to MEC's electricity comments─── SABRINA DEAN 14:00 Wed, 24 Jun 2015
Bloemfontein - Organised agriculture says it is not fair to blame farmers for outstanding municipal electricity arrears as virtually all farmers get their electricity directly from Eskom.
This is in reaction to comments by Free State MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Olly Mlamleli that municipalities intended to “turn the tables” on, among others, farmers with outstanding electricity debt. Free State Agriculture’s Henk Vermeulen says Mlamleli’s statement is creating the wrong perception:
'Henk Vermeulen - perceptions'
He explains that the bulk of farmers get their electricity directly from Eskom:
'Direct supply'
Vermeulen is urging municipalities to get their houses in order rather than falsely accusing farmers of being to blame for their financial woes. He says the culture of non-payment and misuse of monies being paid to municipalities for electricity that is then never transferred to Eskom needs to be sorted out.
Sabrina Dean/OFM News
'Henk Vermeulen - perceptions':
'Direct supply':
