The City of Johannesburg is on a track to recover millions owed to it by businesses and customers.
As the joint operation to cut-off large power and water users who have illegally connected to the grid intensifies, many owners are coming forward to acknowledge their debt.
Last Thursday the Record was privy to a sting operation which targeted among others a hotel in the Roodepoort area.
The joint operation team made up of the city’s credit control officials, Johannesburg Metro Police inspectors and City Power pounced on the unsuspecting hotel in Maraisburg around lunch time.
The co-owner of the hotel confessed to the officials that he has not paid his electricity, water and property rates bills for the past three years. His business owes the city more than R 1 million in unpaid bills. The technicians discovered the two story building had installed a pre-paid meter – which was used as a front because the entire building was illegally connected directly to the grid.
Kgamanyane Maphologela, the City’s Director of Customer Communications said the positive aspect of the operation is more business owners are coming forward.
“Some of these business owners are coming out and admitting that they have been illegally connecting to electricity and water and not paying what is due to the City,” said Maphologela.
He said the owner of the Maraisburg hotel agreed in principle to make arrangements with the City and was willing to settle his debt.
Through conducting a door-to-door credit control, the city uncovered a number of customers who have illegally connected to the grid. Some of the customers who have been disconnected were as a result of tip-offs from the members of the public.
The sting operation has over the past month been making a lot of surprise visits at the businesses that were illegally connected to the grid.
Maphologela said the credit control will continue and involves a number of actions such as the normal debt management intended to encourage the customers to pay. Should a customers refuse to pay, more drastic actions are taken.
Maphologela warned “any customer who is found to have illegally connected, the city will be bound to disconnect all the services but not limited to taking the customer off the grid. Those customers will have to pay heavy penalties to be reconnected to the grid. Normally the costs associated with restoration of services is more than R20 000.”
