Whilst the power supplier in a statement said they resolved to take this step due to the municipality's non-payment and repeated failure to adhere to its payment agreements, the municipality refutes this. 

Municipal spokesperson, Kgojane Matutle, says they will approach the High Court on an urgent basis, should Eskom fail to withdraw what they view as an unlawful attachment of its account by the end of business, today.

"The contention by Eskom that the Municipality has not paid any amount whatsoever or is indebted to it at all, is wholesomely wrong and is vehemently disputed by the Municipality. In fact, this was expressly disputed in the Municipality's Plea filed on 2 July 2020, case number 5830/2019 in the Free State High Court," says Matutle.

He says the municipality has made various payments to the power supplier and "had Eskom correctly allocated payments made by Matjhabeng Local Municipality, there should not have been any amount reflected in Eskom's books as outstanding in respect of the Order".  

According to the municipality, Eskom is not acting in good faith as it has suddenly acted "out of the blue and without any forewarning".

"Matjhabeng Local Municipality's legal team has issued instructions to demand that Eskom not later than 17:00, September 7, notify its offices, the Sheriff and the Municipality's bankers that it unconditionally and with immediate effect withdraws the writ of execution and uplifts the attachment over funds in the Municipality's bank account" highlighted Matutle.

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