Joburg New Mayor’s 1st Act in Office Helps City Power Recover R10m Through Power Cutting Operation

• Johannesburg Mayor Thapelo Amad and City Power are on a mission to recover what the municipality is owed
• The metro ended up recovering R10 million in unpaid electricity bills after conducting a power-cutting operation in Roodepoort
• City Power spokesperson says the entity is owed over R1.2 billion by government departments, businesses, and residents in the Joburg west area.

JOHANNESBURG - The City of Johannesburg may have broken a record on Wednesday, 1 February after a power-cutting operation resulted in the recovery of R10 million.

The operation, which took place in the Roodepoort area, was led by the metro's recently elected mayor, Thapelo Amad and electricity distributor, City Power.

The operation aimed to cut off the electricity supply to businesses, residents, and government departments that had fallen behind on paying their electricity bills, EWN reported.

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The lion's share of the R10 million recovery allegedly came from the Department of Basic Education. According to City Power, the department was paid on behalf of a school with a defaulting account.

According to City Power spokesperson Issac Magena, defaulters in the west Johannesburg area owed the entity approximately R1.2 billion.

City Power CEO Tshifhularo Mashava vowed to continue cutting electricity supply to delinquent payers until the issue of non-payment is addressed, SowetanLIVE reported.

Mashava condemned those who had the means to pay for electricity but chose not to and warned against illegally reconnecting power once being cut off.

Mashava said:

''It is a very painful exercise that if we disconnect you and you reconnect, that is an obviously criminal activity."

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South Africans react to the City of Johannesburg's power-cutting mission

South Africans are not impressed with the City of Joburg's power-cutting mission.

Here are some comments:

@OfJoburg criticised:

This is part of the problem - photo opportunities. Neither of @ThapeloAmad or the CEO are qualified to be doing this work.

@Juvman30 asked:

"When is the new mayor going to go around to Soweto and start disconnecting there as they account for more than 60% of the debt owed to Eskom from the Gauteng province."

@ArcusJoel claimed:

"With stage 6 loadshedding it’s not like they are going to miss much."

@ladamson9 demanded:

"Cut the government off first."

Eskom warns of more tariff hikes as utility struggles to stay afloat, Mzansi fuming

In another story, Briefly News reported that Eskom board member Mteto Nyathi has warned that the struggling power utility is not making money from its current required rates.

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He was speaking at a media briefing on the country’s energy crisis when he suggested that more tariff hikes could be expected soon. Nyathi left South Africans stressed, with many saying they are already struggling to make ends meet.

The Eskom board member said that high debt levels, low tariffs and some managers’ poor performance were affecting the utility’s power productivity. According to SABC News, he said Eskom’s debt of R400 billion is preventing it from raising the capital needed to fund its operations.

Source: Briefly News