Cities short-circuiting

Johannesburg's City Power has a R655-million hole in its revenue receipts but officials cannot, or will not, explain how this came about.

City Power says it will investigate how, amid a national power crisis that threatens to cripple the national economy, it failed to collect a significant chunk of revenue the loss of which could lead to it being unable to provide an uninterrupted supply of electricity to the country's economic hub.

Council documents seen by The Times indicate that City Power was unable to collect the R655-million because of:

• Decreased sales of prepaid electricity;
• Customers not being billed;
• Illegal conversions to prepaid metering;
• Large power users not being metered; and
• A fall in the number of invoices issued.

City Power had not responded to questions put by The Times at the time of going to press.

Durban's eThekwini municipality has experienced a 2% drop in electricity consumption.

Municipal spokesman Tozi Mthethwa said: "The decrease can be attributed to a number of factors including the economic slump, energy efficiency, the disruptive nature of load-shedding to businesses, higher electricity costs, and customers generally using less electricity and managing their use better through prepaid meters."

Higher electricity prices have resulted in decreased consumption by the biggest users in Cape Town, creating a situation in which low-end users in the city must pay more because they are no longer being subsidised by those who were previously high-end users.

Ernest Sonnenberg, Cape Town mayoral committee member for utility services, said: "Where there is load-shedding or lower electricity sales, we have to lower our budget because less revenue is collected. [This means] a lower budget for electricity services."

Energy experts have suggested converting municipal waste into electricity and harnessing the heat from smelters, and methane from sewage, as a means of making up for the energy shortfall.

About 41 schools in Ekurhuleni, on the East Rand, have had their electricity disconnected because of unpaid bills for assessment rates and taxes. About 5000 pupils are affected.

"The Gauteng department of education is in negotiations regarding payment," said department spokesman Nanagolo Leopeng.

Ekurhuleni spokesman Themba Radebe said the municipality was owed R46-million in rates and taxes by schools and state administration entities.

Additional reporting by Shenaaz Jamal, Nivashni Nair, Poppy Louw and Dominic Skelton