Eskom faces R450bn municipal debt threat, says Ramokgopa
The electricity minister warns that spiralling municipal debt is a threat to the energy market and the reform agenda, even as he declares load shedding defeated.
Municipalities owe Eskom about R450-billion, Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has said, warning that the debt is growing unchecked and now threatens both the country’s electricity market and the reform programme his department is introducing.
Speaking in an interview published by eNCA (YouTube) on 25 September 2026, Ramokgopa said the debt is rising even among municipalities that hold their own distribution licences and are unable to collect what they are owed. The total, he said, has reached roughly R450-billion.
“This is a threat to the South African electricity energy market, is a threat to the reform agenda that we are introducing,” he said, adding that it was important for the government to set out clearly what is expected of municipalities.
He said Eskom would have to make further interventions on the distribution side.
Ramokgopa also used the interview to claim progress on load shedding. He said the country had fought it and that he had always been confident it could be resolved, and that the government had warned its interventions would cause short-term pain for long-term gain.
“And now we are experiencing that long-term gain,” he said. “We’ve got the surplus electricity generation.”
The minister did not say in the interview what specific interventions Eskom would make on distribution, nor did he set out a timeline for addressing the municipal debt. No deadline or further announcement was given.
Source: eNCA (YouTube), Kgosientsho Ramokgopa: Municipalities Owe Eskom R450-Billion
