City Power wins court verdict against Sierra Hotel in Ferndale
This as spokesperson for City Power says much money has been lost to loadshedding, illegal electricity connections, and stolen cables. Furthermore, vandalism has increased.
City Power welcomed a Johannesburg High Court verdict that dismissed a hotel in Ferndale’s dispute against paying revenue.
The entity’s spokesperson, Isaac Mangena explained that the Sierra Hotel took the matter to court after allegedly owing City Power R26 million that had accumulated since 2018, and they had defaulted several times on agreements with the City.
The judge dismissed the matter with costs, meaning the hotel would pay for the municipality’s legal fees.
“Late last month City Power disconnected the hotel during our revenue collection campaign in the area,” Mangena said.
“City Power is owed R7,9 billion in debt by customers across the City of Johannesburg. We have launched an aggressive revenue collection drive to ensure we collect every cent from defaulting and non-paying customers. The first phase focuses on businesses, large power users, [and] government departments including schools and hospitals.”
He said City Power is losing much money to load-shedding, illegal electricity connections, and stolen cables. Furthermore, vandalism has increased.
“This means we have to invest in maintenance, buy materials, pay staff overtime, and still electrify informal settlements. How then are we going to do all these if we don’t have revenue?”
The Sierra Hotel were sent questions and given the opportunity to respond but at the time of going to print had not responded about this matter and their comments will be published when they are made.
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