Sheriff Seizes eThekwini Municipality’s Assets to Settle R30 Million Electricity Debt

• Municipality staff in the City of eThekwini’s electricity department had to stand by and watch as an electrical contractor seized computers and other equipment
• This comes after the court attached the city’s assets to a R30 million debt owed to an electrical contractor on Thursday, 25 August
• The city says if the company doesn’t stop taking its assets, it will take its grievances to the Supreme Court of Appeal

DURBAN – The eThekwini Municipality was hit with an embarrassing incident when electrical contractors seized the municipality’s assets over unpaid electricity bills.

This comes after the KwaZulu-Natal High Court attached the electricity department assets to the R30 million debt owed to Daily Double Trading 479 CC.

According to IOL, the company opened a case against the City of eThekwini in 2017, and the court ordered the city to pay the electricity contractor R30 million plus 10.5% interest from 2 February 2018.

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The city appealed the judgement, but the appeal was dismissed.

The municipality, through its attorneys, accepted the settlement, but no payments were made. The company opened a second application to have the settlement made an order of the court.

News24 reported that officials were seen carrying computers and other equipment out of the eThekwini Municipality's electricity department and loading it into a truck while staff watched helplessly on Thursday, 25 August.

Councillors and workers' unions have condemned the incident, saying it's deeply embarrassing. IFP councillor Mdu Nkosi said this was just the latest in a series of embarrassing incidents damaging the municipality's image.

Spokesperson for the eThekwini Municipality, Musawenkosi Mayisela, said that they want the service provider to stop the seizure of its assets; if they don’t, the municipality will take its grievances to the Supreme Court of Appeal.

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South Africans react

South Africans took to social media to weigh in on the seizure of the city's assets.

Here are some comments:

@jo97243785 asked:

“The sheriff is complying with a High Court order, so there is a judgement against the metro. Thus there was a summons and the metro given had to defend the claim in court. Did this happen? Why was an appeal not lodged within the prescribed time? Who buggered up?”

@PhumeMnguni3 commented

“How embarrassing!”

@MarkSyson2 asked:

“What will become of the electricity billing process?”

115 Suspects arrested in eThekwini as multidisciplinary task forces clean up streets of KwaZulu-Natal

Previously, Briefly News reported that in a bid to rid the eThekwini District of crime, a multidisciplinary task force arrested over 100 people in an intense operation.

The operation, which started on Friday and continued till Sunday evening, was undertaken by various law enforcement agencies and simultaneously conducted in Durban North, Point, Durban CBD, Umbilo, Greenwood Park and other areas in the eThekwini District, The Witness reported.

Source: Briefly News