Money down the drain in KwaDukuza

Illegal connections and wasted electricity have cost KwaDukuza rate payers millions of rands.

According to a KwaDukuza municipality council document, money lost for electricity has increased continuously for the past three years starting from R61 million in the 2013/2014 financial period to R78 million in the 2015/2016 financial period.

Ward 22 Councillor Malcolm Hubner said illegal connections and unused electricity were the main reasons for the huge loss of revenue.

“What happens is that the municipality buys electricity from Eskom based on what they think they need, which rate payers pay for. But the problem comes in when the municipality does not sell all the electricity because there is no demand. So basically what they sell and what they buy does not match and they actually end up losing money instead of making it. The other problem is where people are using illegal connections. This does not only happen in townships but also in urban areas especially in complexes.”

Hubner added that the amount of electricity that is wasted because of KDM buying too much is 17-18 per cent per a year. The National Energy Regulator only allows for 10 per cent.

“The trend cannot continue where money and energy are being wasted. When you look at the figures it seems like there is almost R1 million a month of revenue that is lost.

“A task team committee was appointed in 2015 to monitor the situation and find possible solutions. However, the committee fell apart last year. This committee should be formed again. We cannot continue to see a trend of upward movement without any control.”

KwaDukuza municipality has not responded to The Courier’s questions as to whether there are any plans in place to combat this problem.

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