By Levy Masiteng
City Power has disconnected two major inner-city businesses, a prominent Hillbrow nightclub and a shopping complex with residential flats, after they racked up a combined electricity debt of nearly R25 million, marking another high-profile strike in the City of Johannesburg’s inner-city crackdown.
The operation, carried out on Tuesday, was led by the office of the Executive Mayor, Councillor Dada Morero, under the Mayoral High-Impact Service Delivery Programme.
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During the operation, Emergency Management Services (EMS) and the city’s Building Control Unit found that the well-known Hillbrow nightclub, Summit, had an outstanding electricity debt of R2.6 million.
Although one registered meter was up to date, a second meter was in default and was disconnected.
The officials said the business was also found to be in breach of regulations for doing internal alterations without approved building plans.
“This operation is about restoring the rule of law in the inner city,” Morero said. “We cannot allow a situation where some businesses and property owners refuse to pay for services while law-abiding residents and businesses carry the burden.”
A block of flats with over 30 residential units was also disconnected. According to the city, the occupants had been paying rent but the property owner had failed to pay rates, taxes, and electricity accounts.
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“These measures are essential to safeguarding the integrity of the electricity grid and ensuring that law-abiding, paying customers are not unfairly burdened by those who continue to evade payment and engage in unlawful activity,” said city officials.
“Electricity theft, illegal connections and non-payment are not victimless crimes,” officials said at the site of the disconnections.
“They damage infrastructure, cause outages and divert resources away from maintenance and upgrades that benefit everyone.”
City Power is currently pursuing more than R10 billion owed to the city, with R3.2 billion linked to inner-city supply areas alone.
In recent months, the city has shut down and disconnected dozens of problem buildings across the inner city for a combination of unpaid services, illegal electricity connections, unsafe structures and by-law violations.
Authorities say more closures and disconnections are imminent.
“We are sending a clear message,” Morero said. “If you do not comply with the law, if you do not pay for services, the City will act — decisively and without fear or favour.”
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