Joburg City Power officials are set to disconnect electricity in Midrand. Picture: Supplied/CityPowerJHB
Joburg City Power officials were set to target Midrand on Wednesday as the City of Johannesburg intensifies efforts to recoup unpaid electricity bills around the city.
On Tuesday, City Power only able to disconnect about 20 houses in Naturena after angry community members blocked them from disconnecting more houses.
Naturena residents have been accused of illegally bypassing the system, using electricity illegally.
Naturena residents owe the city a combined R309 million, while out of the 3,000 registered prepaid users, only half were paying for electricity.
“In the past three years, City Power has lost around R90 million from customers who have bypassed their meters in Naturena,” said Joburg City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena.
Angry Naturena residents threatened police officers and officials, blocking them from cutting off power. They said they did not want the smart meters that the city was seeking to have installed, claiming it would overcharge them.
Some residents threatened to reconnect electricity illegally where they’ve been switched off.
Mangena said the operation in Naturena was “the first in a series of cut-offs that will be carried out in the area to enforce payment of services”.
“We urge those who were cut off to visit the City of Joburg offices to fix their accounts and start paying for the services to avoid being disconnected,” he said.
City Power officials have been flanked by the local SA Police Service (SAPS) and the Joburg Metro Police (JMPD) during the operations.
The City of Johannesburg is owed over R10 billion in unpaid electricity bills.
IOL