The Centurion Golf Estate has denied the Tshwane metro’s accusations that it and its residents were behind on electricity payments.
Jaco Venter, the estate’s general manager, told Rekord that they have never missed payment for services to the city, adding that their account was up to date.
“All municipality accounts of the Centurion homeowners association are paid up and have never been in arrears,” he added.
The metro had previously mentioned in a communication that the estate was among those in arrears or believed to have tampered with their meters.
The metro further said that it would target more residential estates in Centurion and across the city for tampering with electricity meter boxes and failing to pay bills.
“All those who were to be found tampering with the meter boxes or have illegally connected will be levied on their meters,” said metro spokesperson Selby Bokaba.
“We would like to once more encourage consumers who are illegally connected to the electricity and water networks to apply for amnesty to avoid fines and criminal charges.”
This was after the metro targeted the Copperleaf Golf Estate in Centurion after it was claimed that it bypassed its meter box.
The golf estate had, however, also denied the claim.
According to the metro, each delinquent household at the estate was slapped with a hefty R200 000 fine and businesses were fined R10-million.
At the time, the city said that the households in question dealt directly with the municipality and not through the golf estate.
The golf estate’s management wrote on its Facebook page that it had serious concerns regarding “the false reporting on social media platforms that over 600 homes had been disconnected due to electricity non-payment and illegal connections”.
In the statement, the estate said no house was found to be illegally connected.
“Whilst there were house stands, which had City of Tshwane red demand letters, these were houses that have not been paying their municipal rates,” the statement read.
The metro has stepped up its efforts to reclaim unpaid bills from residents and businesses as it has been financially strained.
Last month, it collected over R700-million in a bid to pay its outstanding Eskom debt.
ALSO READ: Centurion residents up in arms over City billing
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