Two members of the mayoral task team on Eskom told the Gazette they learnt many worrying details at the team’s meeting last Thursday (full report on Gazette 19 Janaury front page).
‘We asked many questions and learnt much about why Ngwathe continues to run up debt to Eskom, month after month,’ said DA councillor, Arnold Schoonwinkel. He said hundreds, “even thousands” of pre-paid meters throughout Ngwathe’s towns and townships remain “bridged” (so that they do not work) after Ngwathe municipality itself bridged them for technical  reasons. ‘Residents are supposed to pay fixed monthly charges but these do not seem to be widely collected.’ In      some informal settlements, illegal connections supply “free” electricity to inhabitants yet some users are forced to pay “electricity rates” to the technicians who tap into the cables to steal electricity. After bridged meters have been fixed by municipal officials, they are often bridged again the  same day. Some council officials were said to be “scared” to report or act against electricity thieves. The previously adopted revenue enhancement programmes were not applied.
‘We were told stolen prepaid coupons are still for sale, seven months after Eskom asked the Hawks to catch the thieves,’ said Cllr Phillip van der Merwe (VF+), another member of the task team. Municipal regulations allow the municipality to remove the connection  cable of any resident who steals electricity. ‘But this doesn’t seem to have been done yet,’ he added.