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TimesLIVE

City Power targets Joburg business properties with R10.2bn debt

City Power has targeted non-paying business properties in Johannesburg that owe the electricity provider R10.2bn. City Power spokesperson, Isaac Mangena told TimesLIVE that the revenue collection will not only assist the department but also assist the community to get service delivery and improved infrastructure. A debt-collection drive was led on Wednesday by acting mayor Jack Sekwaila. The drive, which included City Power and Johannesburg Water, focused business properties and residential properties in Marshalltown. 'In Marshalltown alone we are owed R93m which makes it R10bn owed across the city,' he said. Mangena said they plan to recover debt to ensure they are able to sustain service delivery to residents . 'We cannot continue to sustain the city when property owners and businesses fail to meet us halfway,' he said. He added that businesses who generate profit should pay for the services they are using. 'Some buildings are taken over and others we are unable to identify their owners and it leads to an impact on City Power because such properties will connect to the network illegally leading to overloading of electricity,' Mangena said. Region F is the highest debtor region with R244m debt. The debt collection is aimed at revenue recovery and ensuring the municipality's financial sustainability. 'Marshaltown has 70 accounts with R93m debt, Fordsburg has 93 accounts with R65m debt and Doornfontein has 56 accounts with R86m debt. All of these accounts have been prioritised for disconnection this week to recover the money', Sekwaila said. Sekwaila added that the collection would be handled in two phases through to December. 'Phase 1 will end by July and phase 2 starts in August. This brings residents time to comply with us and urgently make arrangements to pay their accounts,' he added. A manager of a building providing student accommodation, Collen Sibiya, was shocked to discover that the property owes R2.4m for electricity. Sibiya said he was not aware of the amount and it would be an inconvenience for the students who live in the building. ' . 'According to the documents I have, our account is in order and we do pay on time. I am just surprised that we were supposed to pay for the previous owner's account.'