Eskom CFO Calib Cassim warns that municipal arrear debt owing to Eskom could exceed R300-billion by 2030, while once again highlighting the failure of the current National Treasury initiative to arrest the crisis.

Cassim, who will retire from Eskom in 2026, reported at the group’s results presentation that debt owed to Eskom by municipalities had increased by 27% to R94.6-billion in the year to March 31, 2025, and had since climbed to above R103-billion.

“If this trend is not resolved going forward, we could see by 2030 the arrears being over R300-billion rand, which far outweighs the benefits of the debt relief of R230-billion [received from the National Treasury] in terms of our cash flow.”

Eskom reiterated that the National Treasury’s municipal debt relief programme had not been successful in stemming the escalating levels of arrear debt. Under the scheme, municipalities are able to write off their legacy debt to Eskom if they meet certain conditions, including keeping their current accounts with the utility up to date.

Eskom also warned that, unless innovative solutions were found, the financial sustainability of the yet-to-be-unbundled National Electricity Distribution Company of South Africa would be jeopardised, with knock-on effects for Eskom Generation and the National Transmission Company South Africa.

Cassim said Eskom and government were exploring alternative solutions, including distribution agency agreements (DAAs) and prepaid supply models.

“DAAs will support municipalities in ensuring sustainable local service delivery while contributing to Eskom’s financial sustainability through improved billing and revenue collection,” he argued.

Energy Intensive Users Group (EIUG) CEO Fanele Mondi described municipal debt as now posing the greatest threat to Eskom's financial sustainability.

Mondi highlighted that Eskom was forecasting that this debt would grow to up to R135-billion during its current financial year, which would represent a 43% increase on the R94.6-billion reported in 2025.

“In a ten-year period, 2015 to 2025, this debt increased from R5-billion to R94.6-billion, an over 1 800% increase.

“The current mitigation plans are clearly not delivering the desired results.

“Government and relevant stakeholders must intensify efforts to assist Eskom in managing this burden, as Eskom’s financial instability directly impacts EIUG members, the rest of consumers, and the economy,” Mondi said.

In addition, Eskom reported that 14.9 TWh of electricity was lost to theft in its 2025 financial year, while reporting overall sales volumes of 189.7 TWh.

Cassim calculated the financial impact of the theft at R28-billion, up from an estimated R23-billion lost to theft in the 2024 financial year.

Eskom planned to roll out 7.2-million smart meters in the coming years as a way to combat the losses and was also planning to accelerate the implementation of a new online vending system for the generation of prepaid tokens.

This, following evidence that the current system had been breached, resulting in large-scale fraud.