Eskom power shut-down a concern for agri-exporters

Eskom’s latest plan to shut
down power supply to
recalcitrant municipal debtors
stands to knock out vital
energy sources to farmers
surrounding seven Free
State and three North West
municipalities.
As the UN’s Food and
Agriculture Organisation
(FAO) said: “As one of the
prime inputs to agriculture,
energy plays a decisive role in
attaining food security.
“Greater international trade
will encourage and require
more energy for processing
primary agricultural
products closer to the source
of production in developing
countries, then transporting,
storing and finally distributing
these products.”
But the power parastatal
seemed to ignore this factor as
it fought a Pretoria High Court
action brought by AfriForum,
challenging Eskom’s right to
cut off power to the offending
municipalities, and indirectly
leaving residents and
businesses that had possibly
paid their bills, powerless.
But, while the court
dismissed with costs
AfriForum’s application on
Thursday, at least Eskom
agreed in court on Wednesday
to delay the planned blackouts
until January 16 to give the
municipalities – which owe
about R700 million to the
utility – time to pay their
arrears.
However that, said an FTW
farming source, still left these
regions’ agri-producers in an
uncertain position, as there
was serious doubt that the
municipalities would have
such amounts of free cash
available – especially with
suspicions amongst the public
that corruption was probably
rife.