Last month for illegal electricity and water users to come clean

The Tshwane metro has warned residents who are illegally connected to the electricity and water grid to apply for amnesty before September 30 – or else face criminal charges and a fine.

Fines for illegal connections and electricity theft were set at R200 000 for individual and household accounts, while R10-million was set for business accounts, warned finance MMC Peter Sutton.

“In addition to these fines, Tshwane will also lay criminal charges and pursue recovery of lost income.”

The amnesty is aimed at assisting residents and business owners who benefit from illegal electricity and water services without being measured and paying for consumption.

This was in addition to tampering with an electricity and water meter, resulting in the measuring of incorrect or lower consumption; illegally reconnecting an electricity and water meter after a credit control disconnection.

The amnesty also includes paying a bribe to remove an outstanding amount on an account or paying a bribe to illegally open a new municipal account without following the official process as well as having an electricity and/or water meter bypassed to record incorrect or lower consumption.

To qualify for amnesty, the application form must be submitted to the metro.

An affidavit detailing the following must also be submitted:

– How the illegal connection was installed.

– Who the individual(s) are who facilitated the tampering, illegal connection or fraud on the account.

– How and to whom money was paid to facilitate the tampering, illegal connection or fraud on the account.

– The amount paid and how frequently the bribe money was paid.

Sutton said the information given would be beneficial as it would assist in the prosecution of those implicated in the affidavit.

He said it would also allow for the metering to be corrected and the account holder to start paying for services correctly.

He added factual payments would take place from the date the amnesty is granted.

“The tampering and illegal connection fine will be waived and no criminal charges will be brought against the person or company granted amnesty.”

The amnesty period follows the metro also failing to collect electricity timeously from residents, while residents are also failing to pay their rates to the metro.

Sutton said the metro had established a highly skilled multidisciplinary revenue-collection team to recover lost revenue.

This was after Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said the power utility was also considering disconnecting the Tshwane metro to secure outstanding payments.

“The metro is in breach of the electricity supply agreement which it holds with Eskom by failing to pay the R1.6-billion which was due and payable on August 17.

“The City only paid R68-million to date, which did little to dent the massive outstanding balance on its electricity account.”

The metro acknowledged the R1.6-billion debt.

“We understand our responsibility to service our account; however, it is important that we point out that the amount owed is only four days in arrears,” said Sutton.

Sutton said the Tshwane metro’s entire value system was not aligned.

“On average, residents pay the metro in a 60-day cycle for services consumed, while Eskom expects payment in 15 days. The metro has zero cash reserves to bridge the gap with payment from our coffers and this, therefore, results in the current situation.”

He said the metro was committed to paying the Eskom accounts and would intensify its aggressive revenue collection campaign to ensure that the metro collected enough revenue to service creditors.

Residents and business owners who want to apply for amnesty can download forms from Tshwane metro’s website, www.tshwane.gov.za.

A dedicated email address was also created for the application, namely amnesty@tshwane.gov.za

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