The City of Tshwane is to open a criminal case with police on Thursday against a business complex in Centurion which it says illegally reconnected the power supply to its premises.
The business complex was disconnected by the Tshwane Ya Tima team last week for owing the city more than R3m.
On Wednesday morning, the city's electricians went back to the shopping complex to do an inspection and discovered that a lock to the infrastructure was broken and that the property was illegally reconnected.
The property was disconnected again.
As part of its #TshwaneYaTima revenue collection campaign, Tshwane is continuously identifying nonpaying businesses, government departments, individual homes, and residential estates across the city's seven regions with past-due debts to recoup more than R23bn owed.
City spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said the disconnection should serve as a notice to those who continue to tamper with the city’s infrastructure that their criminal actions will be met with adequate and decisive action from the municipality, working jointly with the criminal justice cluster.
On Monday and Tuesday, Tshwane’s finance department issued more than 100 job cards for both business and residential customers whose accounts are in arrears, with debts amounting to more than R190m.
From the list, he said 50 were successfully disconnected in various areas.
“These include two student accommodations in Arcadia, part of the Suncardia shopping complex and residential areas. During the disconnections, the municipality also imposed steep fines for meter tampering and illegal connections.
“Some of the challenges that the team encountered which eventually led to unsuccessful disconnections during the two days range from abandoned buildings, vacant land and lack of access to the locked property,” said Mashigo.
Accounts of the abandoned buildings will be subjected to the debt collection process through legal means to recover money against the properties, while those accounts where access to the property was a challenge will be reissued with the assistance of the metro police department to enforce access to the termination boxes.
TimesLIVE
Tshwane to lay charge against Centurion business for power reconnection
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The City of Tshwane is to open a criminal case with police on Thursday against a business complex in Centurion which it says illegally reconnected the power supply to its premises.
The business complex was disconnected by the Tshwane Ya Tima team last week for owing the city more than R3m.
On Wednesday morning, the city's electricians went back to the shopping complex to do an inspection and discovered that a lock to the infrastructure was broken and that the property was illegally reconnected.
The property was disconnected again.
As part of its #TshwaneYaTima revenue collection campaign, Tshwane is continuously identifying nonpaying businesses, government departments, individual homes, and residential estates across the city's seven regions with past-due debts to recoup more than R23bn owed.
City spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said the disconnection should serve as a notice to those who continue to tamper with the city’s infrastructure that their criminal actions will be met with adequate and decisive action from the municipality, working jointly with the criminal justice cluster.
On Monday and Tuesday, Tshwane’s finance department issued more than 100 job cards for both business and residential customers whose accounts are in arrears, with debts amounting to more than R190m.
From the list, he said 50 were successfully disconnected in various areas.
“These include two student accommodations in Arcadia, part of the Suncardia shopping complex and residential areas. During the disconnections, the municipality also imposed steep fines for meter tampering and illegal connections.
“Some of the challenges that the team encountered which eventually led to unsuccessful disconnections during the two days range from abandoned buildings, vacant land and lack of access to the locked property,” said Mashigo.
Accounts of the abandoned buildings will be subjected to the debt collection process through legal means to recover money against the properties, while those accounts where access to the property was a challenge will be reissued with the assistance of the metro police department to enforce access to the termination boxes.
TimesLIVE
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