Tshwane must curb illegal connections in squatter camps before upgrading prepaid meters, says Mams resident organisation

The metro has urged residents to upgrade their prepaid meters before the November 24 deadline.

However, Mamelodi Concern Residents for Service Delivery, an organisation fighting for civil rights and service delivery, has raised concerns that Tshwane has said nothing about scrapping “abnormally high bills” and illegal electricity connections in squatter camps.

Oupa Mthsweni of the organisation said the deadline for the upgrade was November 24, but not even the new administration has invited the public to discuss this.

He said many people are scared and don’t know if their high municipal bills caused by estimation and inaccurate billing would be scrapped or should be paid.

Mtshweni said the issue of abnormal billing had been going on for far too long.

“Tshwane Metro should have called a public participation meeting or imbizo to explain to all Tshwane residents how upgrading the meter is going to work and how it will benefit them.

“Instead, Tshwane Metro communicates with residents via media and local ward councillors who are also owing the city of Tshwane thousands of rands for services,” said Mtshweni.

“Tshwane Metro said failure to meet the deadline will result in non-compliant meters being unable to load an electricity token, and that those who tampered with their meters will be fined R29 000 for residential customers and R161 000 for businesses,” said Mtshweni.

He added that nothing had been said about illegal electricity connections in squatter camps, yet failure to meet the deadline will result in non-compliance and harsh penalties for those who have tampered with meters.

“This means Tshwane residents are going to pay for squatter camps on an ongoing basis so that they can enjoy the seeds that they have not planted.

“The squatter camps should receive the same treatment from Tshwane metro,” said Mtshweni.

“Tshwane residents want to know about the scrapping of high abnormal bills because they had been calling for Tshwane Metro for years to scrap all abnormal bills and start afresh.

“Most of the houses are owned by pensioners and unemployed residents; what is going to happen to their high municipal bills or are they to commit to use their social grant to pay these bills?”

Mtshweni said the metro should change its focus to non-payers, such as those connected to electricity illegally in the squatter camps.

“Once the metro is done removing illegal connections, then the Tshwane mayor and MMCs can call a public meeting or imbizo to discuss the importance of upgrading prepaid meters.”

Mtshweni said this upgrade is surprising, because its initiator was former Tshwane mayor, Cilliers Brink.

He said he is puzzled because Brink was voted out, because they claimed he was not working accordingly yet, they are continuing with his upgrade initiative.

“It sets an example that the upgrade is some sort of business to them because the new mayor and his committee are going forward with it,” said Mtshweni.

“According to the Municipality Systems Act, they have no right to make decisions without us.”

According to Tshwane spokesperson Lindela Mashigo, failure to meet the November 24 upgrade deadline will result in non-compliant meters being unable to load electricity.

The metro’s effort to upgrade its prepaid meters to the new KRN 2 standard is underway, with 64% of the total meter population successfully converted as of October 25.

Mashigo said the metro is pleased with the progress made so far, but acknowledges there are still challenges in certain regions.

He stated that regions 2 and 4 have achieved impressive conversion rates of over 89%, while regions 3 and 6 have also made notable progress, with completion rates above 55%.

“However, regions 5 and 7 continue to lag behind, with less than 16 000 meters upgraded,” he said.

Mashigo said measures are in place to help these regions meet the deadline.

He urged residents to ensure that their prepaid meters are compliant and upgraded before the deadline.

To deal with illegal connections, Mashigo said the metro council has approved penalties for tampering with meters and illegal connections.

“Tshwane is on an aggressive and non-negotiable programme to remove every tampered-with meter and impose a penalty fee of R29 000 for residential customers and R161 000 for businesses,” said Mashigo.

He said this included punitive consumption costs, which are calculated for the period of the tampering.

Mashigo said residential customers will pay R3 000 for each month of tampering.

“Penalties are payable in full before any reconnection can be done,” he said.

He said there was a weekly programme to remove illegal connections as part of safety and revenue collection.

“There are also plans to increase the inspectors to curb the tampering of meters.”

Do you have more information about the story?

Please send us an email to bennittb@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.

For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East

For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram