A property owner on Monday begged Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba not to cut electricity at his house in Yeoville‚ but ended up being arrested.
The man initially warmly welcomed the mayor and his chief of police David Tembe to his Becker Street home in Yeoville. "I'm willing to pay but I can't be responsible for the previous owner's debt. I am a new owner. If we can arrange for me to pay for what I owe since being here‚ I will pay‚" said the man.
But Mashaba explained to him that the house was illegally connected to electricity‚ therefore it had to be disconnected.
While the man was still begging‚ officials alerted Mashaba that the amount owing on the property was R415‚000 but the account holder only paid R300 each month.
Matters worsened for the man when head of group forensic investigations in the city Shadrack Sibiya arrived and simply ordered for the man to be arrested.
"I will not complain‚ you are the people with the law‚" the man said as he was being handcuffed.
One of the tenants at the house told TimesLIVE that he paid R1‚500 for rent and was not aware that the property owed the city so much money.
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