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Over 2 000 households receive electricity illegally – metro

Tshwane mayor warned that repeat meter-tampering offenders will be referred to the TMPD to be charged with criminal cases.

Residents who choose to steal electricity instead of paying for it, destroy Tshwane’s efforts to improve service delivery for all residents.

This is according to the Tshwane mayor after it was discovered that a total of 2 057 meters have been tampered with since the start of the financial year in July 2024.

Mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya said meter-tampering is primarily to bypass tolling and should be condemned by all residents.

Moya said the city is committed to accelerating inspections to clamp down on meter tampering.

She warned that the metro will file a criminal case for repeat meter-tampering offenders.

“Over the past several weeks, our teams have scouted tampered meters across our seven regions to bring all meters in accordance with the law.”

She is committed to improving service delivery.

“To achieve this objective, increasing revenue collection is paramount.”

Recently, the tampered-with meters across seven regions and the associated costs were as follows:

December 17 to 24, 2024: 60 meters with a cost total of R1 992 500
January, 2 to 8, 2025: 39 meters with a total cost of R1 150 500
January 9 to 15, 2025: 33 meters with a total cost of R973 500.

“About 442 of these accounts were on second tamper identification and 249 on the third, which shows determination to bypass paying for electricity. The total cost of the accumulative tampering is R74 974 391.”

Moya said a total of 1 201 tampered-with meters were reconnected since July 2024 at a cost of R33 841 157 paid for reconnection fees.

“The remedial action we have taken for repeat meter-tampering offenders includes referring them to the Tshwane Metro Police Department as criminal cases.”

She added that the metro will increase its efforts to continue converting conventional meters to prepaid.

The target for each month is 883, according to Moya.

“We still have 107 476 prepaid meters that have yet to be converted to TID (Token ID) rollover, while 253 014 prepaid meters are vending on the converted system.”

Moya appealed to residents not to tamper with municipal infrastructure.

“We will deal decisively with lawlessness targeting the city’s efforts to increase revenue collection. Fostering a culture of paying for services is a key component of the Mayoral’s 100-Day Action Plan,” she said.

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