Shocker! Honest Absa pays R100m electricity bill

The City of Johannesburg has agreed to a settlement amount of R100-million as payment on an incorrectly billed electricity account‚ Mayor Herman Mashaba announced on Friday.

Of its own accord‚ Absa recently approached the City to indicate that the R600‚000 electricity bill for one of their buildings in Randburg appeared to be too low‚ said Mashaba.

He explained: "In 2010 the bank applied to City Power for their supply to be increased from a domestic to a large scale power user with a higher voltage transformer. Upon installing the new supply and meter the City continued to erroneously bill the bank on the previously installed domestic meter.

"When City Power technicians investigated the supply‚ they realised that the meter that Absa was being billed on was supplying nearby domestic users.

"Following this‚ the bank and the City have agreed to a settlement amount of R100-million as payment on the electricity bill. Going forward‚ the City will ensure that the bank is correctly billed for services rendered to it."

Mashaba thanked Absa Bank for voluntarily coming forward to correct the matter with the City.

"If we are to build a society based on the rule of law‚ every resident and business must do their part in upholding and following the law. In this regard‚ Absa Bank has set a positive example which I hope others will follow‚" he added.