In a bid to curb illegal electricity connections, electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has announced prepaid customers who have been bypassing their meters will face a penalty. To have their prepaid meters upgraded, these customers will be required to pay R6,000, which can be paid in monthly instalments of R500 over 12 months.
“These are the people to whom we've communicated it is our intention that from now until December 13, to allow them to present themselves so we can regularise them,” Ramokgopa said. “There's things around tampering fines, essentially an admission of guilt. We accept it's an onerous obligation of about R6,000 and that gets to be split over 12 months and the customer pays R500 a month to cushion the blow.”
The minister's announcement comes after a chaotic week that saw electricity users flocking to their nearest municipality offices to update their prepaid meters before the initial Sunday deadline. Though the deadline was extended, Ramokgopa emphasised those who have been illegally connected to the electricity grid must regularise their meters and make an admission of guilt by mid-December.
Ramokgopa's interaction with customers struggling to upgrade their meters revealed most of them had bypassed their meters and relied on illegal connections.
POLL | Is R6,000 penalty for prepaid customers bypassing meters enough?
In a bid to curb illegal electricity connections, electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has announced prepaid customers who have been bypassing their meters will face a penalty. To have their prepaid meters upgraded, these customers will be required to pay R6,000, which can be paid in monthly instalments of R500 over 12 months.
“These are the people to whom we've communicated it is our intention that from now until December 13, to allow them to present themselves so we can regularise them,” Ramokgopa said. “There's things around tampering fines, essentially an admission of guilt. We accept it's an onerous obligation of about R6,000 and that gets to be split over 12 months and the customer pays R500 a month to cushion the blow.”
The minister's announcement comes after a chaotic week that saw electricity users flocking to their nearest municipality offices to update their prepaid meters before the initial Sunday deadline. Though the deadline was extended, Ramokgopa emphasised those who have been illegally connected to the electricity grid must regularise their meters and make an admission of guilt by mid-December.
Ramokgopa's interaction with customers struggling to upgrade their meters revealed most of them had bypassed their meters and relied on illegal connections.
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