City of Joburg cuts electricity at the China Discount Centre
BLAIRGOWRIE – China Discount Shopping Centre is left without water and lights, after non-payment of their services accounts.
Officials of the City of Joburg’s Billing and Revenue Department switched off the electricity at the China Discount Shopping Centre on 29 January.
According to the departments deputy director Christopher Ntshingwa, there has been a door-to-door collection campaign that seeks to help collect the debts from defaulters.
“We have identified seven businesses that have not paid for the services rendered to them. China Discount Centre is one of them,” said Ntshingwa.
He explained that they had found that the centre has illegal connected itself directly to the grid and disconnected from the City’s meter box.
“These people have illegally installed their own meter box and they are not paying for the services that they consumed.”
Ntshingwa said the door-door collection campaign started last year, but they have intensified it this year.
“We have discovered that some people will open a fictitious query in order to avoid paying for the services rendered to them. People should know – they must pay for all services they consume. We are willing to help and make payment arrangements with those who have problems, but they still have to pay for all other services consumed by them,” argued Ntshingwa.
According to Stephen Modingwa, deputy director of the Revenue Collections Department, “The China Discount management have until Friday 9am to pay for the outstanding account. Yesterday, we switched off the water and today it is electricity.”
According to the officials, the lawyers representing the centre asked that they be given time to make payment arrangements, but Ntshingwa insisted that, “if they reconnect themselves after we have switched them off, they will be fined.”
The caretaker of the China Discount centre would not comment and referred Randburg Sun to management.
One of the managers, who goes by the name of Li, said she did not know anything about electricity being switched off and immediately put down the phone.
Details: Department of Billing and Revenue Collections 011 375 5555, for payment arrangements.
