This comes as municipal arrear debt to Eskom has increased to R119 billion, according to a recent statement by the utility. Backed by National Treasury, they are widely seen as a solution for communities experiencing frequent power outages in dysfunctional municipalities. Nevertheless, National Treasury wants to increase the number of municipalities with DAAs to 30. National Treasury has been critical of the content of the three existing agreements, saying they are skewed in favour of Eskom. The other two DAAs – in Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality, based in Harrismith, and Emfuleni Local Municipality, based in Vanderbijlpark – are the result of court orders.