The Lesotho Electricity Company (LEC) says that the government and its agencies owe over M80 million, yet it does not get any subsidy from the latter.
This was disclosed by the LEC Managing Director, Mr. Mohato Seleke when addressing the media in Maseru on Tuesday. He added that the private sector and individuals also owe M57 million and M102 million respectively saying that it is difficult for them to maintain their networks which most of them are old.
Mr. Seleke said LEC solely depends on service payments by consumers, saying they last had a subsidy of M45 million from the government in 2014 and it was only for maintenance.
He said the winter season is very crucial to them as the demand goes higher than other seasons saying last winter the country consumed about 196 megawatts.
He noted that ‘Muela Hydropower usually produces only 72 megawatts but since June last year when one of the four turbine engines broke, the production has reduced by 24 megawatts.
He stated that most of the electricity used in the country they import from South Africa and Mozambique which he said is very expensive as the two countries increased from April 01 saying that South Africa has increased by 18.69 percent while Mozambique though they have not concluded their talks the increase is higher than South Africa.
“It is important for consumers to pay their debts to avoid risks that may come with failure to pay; for now, Lesotho is one of the few countries in the southern region which has not experienced load shedding,” he stressed.
He emphasised that from June to August they are going to embark on a debt collection campaign in which he said they have already informed the owing customers to pay up saying that failure to do so will result in them being cut off.
He added that the country’s economy is weak and fragile saying that if Lesotho could have load shedding that could cause major setbacks.
Commenting on measures they have taken, Mr. Seleke said that they engage with consumers so that they pay saying that they have about 500 post-paid consumers whom he said they have also notified in writing that they settle their debts.
On the other hand, Head Division Customer Service Mr. Lebohang Mohasoa said that networks are maintained by cash and if the company’s money is still in the hands of consumers, they will then have a problem in addressing the problem of constant power outage.
Meanwhile in the last financial year 2022 / 23, LEC spent about M800 million for bulk power.
On December 01, 2022, LEC introduced a new tariff of 7.85 percent as opposed to the initially proposed tariff increment of 12.32 percent.
The Lesotho Electricity Company (Pty) Ltd (LEC) is wholly owned by the Government of Lesotho (GoL). It has been registered in terms of the Companies Act of 1967 (as amended) and established in 2006 in terms of the LEC (Pty) Ltd Establishing and Vesting Act 2006. The assets, liabilities, rights and obligations of the former Lesotho Electricity Corporation were vested in the company. Previously as a Corporation, LEC was established in 1969 in terms of the Electricity Act of 1967 and the Electricity Regulations of 1970. The company assumes a separate legal persona and can sue or be sued in its own right. It is licensed to operate under the Lesotho Electricity Authority Act of 2002, as amended.
LEC is believed to be one of the first parastatals, if not the first in the country. Today it remains the sole supplier of electricity in Lesotho. It was subsequently issued with a Composite License in terms of Section 50 of the Lesotho Electricity Authority Act of 2002, to transmit, distribute and supply electricity. It therefore has an obligation, in terms of the license, to supply power to all customers who are within its service territory. It is, however, authorized to supply electricity throughout the country, even beyond the LEC service territory. The service territory is defined as the area around 3.5km of the existing distribution network. It is also responsible for the economic procurement of power for its customers.
LEC facilitates the connection of new customers to the electricity grid, through their individual funding or under the Government’s rural electrification roll-out programme. The company is also the sole custodian of the electricity grid and has the mandate to sustainably manage the grid and associated assets. It performs these functions in order to provide reliable, sustainable, affordable and quality electricity supply to customers.
Source: LENA 30/05/2023
