Watch: City Power pounces on more elite Dainfern Estate homes

The power to more than 20 houses in elite Dainfern Estate was disconnected on Wednesday.

According to City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena, many residents in Dainfern had connected illegally to the power supply by bridging or tampering with meters, causing the customer to be billed incorrectly.

The highest individual debt in one estate was R1.4 million.

“Often we find complexes and estates behind high walls are where most of the illegal connections and failure to pay are found. Sometimes we come across illegal connections which are done to survive, while others are just ignorant to paying their bill.

“We lose more than R2 billion a year, which is not only due to technical losses, but also due to illegal connections and high bills not paid,” Mangena said.

When a resident’s electricity was cut, they were liable to pay a penalty of R12,000 to R25,000 before negotiating the rest of the debt owed.

The ongoing Dainfern operation was part of City Power’s revenue collection effort. It included officials from the City Power revenue protection unit and the metro police department.

At an operation in Yeoville, resident Ramo Makhoa said cutting the power was unfair to those who had recently moved into the complex.

The City of Joburg should consider residents suffering for previous owners’ old debt.

“I am disappointed they are cutting our electricity even though we have agreed to pay back charges from the day we moved in,” he said.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.