City Power says it loses R30 million a year from illegal connections in Naturena

Johannesburg City Power said it loses about R30 million a year from Naturena residents who are connected illegally to the electrical grid.

The power utility conducted a disconnection drive in the south Johannesburg suburb on Tuesday.

The operation was, however, cut short following a tense stand-off between residents and the city’s law enforcement agencies.

The quiet, middle-class suburb of Naturena was awoken on Tuesay by a large convoy of Johannesburg City Power and metro police vehicles.

City Power’s head of revenue management, Thamsanqa Mathiso, said the area owed the City of Johannesburg over R200 million in rates and water.

Mathiso said about 1,500 homes had by-passed their electricity meters.

“In some of the communities, they sit down, they prefer not to pay and unfortunately in instances like these, they become sort of, it’s not like they are victims but they claim to be victims when we come and do these aggressive collection drives.”

Mathiso said the City of Johannesburg had a number of programmes like payment plans, subsidies, and rebates for people who genuinely cannot pay.

-EWN

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