The Tshwane metro says it had to disconnect a Mamelodi residence following investigations showing that the customer was benefiting from an illegal electricity connection.

This follows a total of 18 tenants at a rental property, including two businesses, having had their power supply cables cut as per a Tshwane Ya Tima operation on May 26.

The Tshwane Ya Tima team and Mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya were conducting aggressive, rolling disconnections in Mamelodi.

However, the client claims the metro illegally connected themselves following their own shoddy work in 2020, which is what led to the discovery of the illegal electricity connection in May.

The owner of the rental business in Mamelodi West in Tsweu Street, Molengwa Bila (81), claimed that the Tshwane Ya Tima campaign wrongfully disconnected electricity because her bills are up to date.

According to the owner, tenants told her that the Tshwane Ya Tima team came with metro police and cut off the electricity cable supplying her building and left without leaving any documents or an explanation.

Bila said her electricity and water bills are up to date and she never missed any payments.

She said she had visited almost all municipal offices in Mamelodi and in the CBD, but was sent from pillar to post between different customer service departments without getting a clear answer.

Bila said the metro finally told her they cut off the electricity because all electrical cables, including temporary connections, new supplies, and solar PV systems, must be strictly grounded and bonded to prevent electrical shocks, fires, and grid overload.

“Tshwane Ya Tima team was supposed to do their homework first before cutting off the hanging electricity cable which was left by their team in 2020, when we reported a power outage at the rental place and it was confirmed that the problem was underground,” said Bila.

According to her, the Tshwane electricity team temporarily replaced the underground cable with the hanging cable and said they will come back to fix the underground cable.

Bila claimed the Tshwane Ya Tima team only returned last week and cut off the electricity.

Her sister, Sobeng Morudu, said: “We support Tshwane Ya Tima campaign of revenue-collection campaign aimed at recovering billions of rands in outstanding municipal debt from businesses, households, and government departments.

“But our account with Tshwane metro is up to date and we plead with Tshwane Ya Tima to come attend to this matter with immediate effect because it is affecting our business,” said Morudu.

Their tenants are now refusing to pay rent because there is no electricity.

She said the tenants desperately need electricity because paraffin is costly.

“They are forced to buy takeout every day – hand-to-mouth buying is very expensive. The only way to survive is to buy groceries to last maybe two days because we are unable to put our food in the fridge.

“Mamelodi has a lot of squatter camps which have illegally connected electricity and water, but instead the Tshwane metro targets the innocents who are paying for the services,” she added.

One of the tenants, who wished not to be named, said it is not easy to run a clothes printing business without electricity.

He said he spends close to R4 000 on petrol to run a generator he hired.

He pleaded with Tshwane Ya Tima to come and fix their mistakes.

Tshwane metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said the building in question had illegal electricity connection cables removed after it was established that it was connected unlawfully to the electricity network.

Mashigo said although the account is up to date in terms of payments based on the amounts billed, the electricity meter readings tell a different story.

“As reflected in the meter reading table below, there has been no movement in the meter readings and the recorded electricity consumption remains at zero,” said Mashigo.

This, according to him, clearly indicates that the customer was benefiting from an illegal electricity connection, which was subsequently detected and removed.

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