Durban - Ulundi Municipality has identified rental house owners and informal businesses as one of major culprits of electricity theft as it embarked on the disconnection drive to reduce its hefty Eskom bill.
The northern KwaZulu-Natal municipality owes the struggling power utility over R100 million and was finding it hard to service the debt due to high electricity theft.
This week, the Mayor Wilson Ntshangase and municipal manager Sandile Khomo led the disconnection drive in various areas in a bid to increase the collection rate.
Upon their initiative, they found most rental house owners to have stolen electricity.
In some instances, tenants were paying, but landlords would not pay the municipality for electricity supply.
Ntshangase said only 20% of the electricity users in Ulundi were paying, which put the municipality under financial strain to service its debt. He said, as a result of the hefty debt, residents have had to endure longer hours of load shedding and load reduction implemented by Eskom.
He said they have identified several areas in the central business district which would be visited soon as the disconnection drive continues.
“The situation has crippled the municipality as the news has spread across the media that we are suffering with electricity bill. Residents are complaining, their food going to waste and many other things that have been ruined by the power outages.
“As the municipality, we will be fighting against this bad habit of non-compliance and electricity theft. We will lead the mass disconnection drive with the municipal manager in various areas so that all residents comply with the by-laws.
“As a caring municipality, we are concerned about the well-being of our residents and businesses, we are determined to fight this scourge. We are also aware of socio-economic issues and other factors that force people to steal electricity, but people are aware that this is illegal. This has put us under this situation where we owe Eskom millions. We urge the community to cooperate with us while we attend to this matter to avoid prolonged outages,” said Ntshangase.
Khomo warned residents against objecting to the disconnection drive. He said the municipal situation was severe, as it affected human lives and they have to do something about it.
“To those who continue with illegal connections after we have disconnected them, they will face the full might of the law. We appeal to law enforcement agencies to work with us in this initiative,” said Khomo.
The disconnection drive will continue in the coming weeks in areas yet to be revealed, the municipality said.
SUNDAY TRIBUNE