City plagued by rampant theft of electricity meters

The entity revealed that it is plagued by the rampant theft of electricity meters, and many of these units have found their way into residents’ homes via the black market.

City Power managing director, Sicelo Xulu, warned residents that the utility will be conducting random audits of meters across Johannesburg, and households with meters found to have been procured illegally would face criminal prosecution. Xulu said consumers who suspect their meter is faulty should report the problem to City Power or City or Johannesburg customer centres.

He said buying meters from unauthorised dealers renders residents complicit in the crime of theft. “The procurement of stolen infrastructure is not a victimless crime as it creates a ready market for stolen property and fuels the black market in stolen electricity meters,” Xulu said.

“The law explicitly states that anyone found in possession of equipment and goods that were procured illegally is in possession of stolen property and, therefore, liable for criminal prosecution.”

He added that theft of meters and other forms of infrastructure hampered the utility’s ability to provide accurate billing, quality services to residents and contributed to increased tariffs and prices for ordinary South Africans.

“Besides the cost of replacing the infrastructure and damaged equipment, it interferes with the delivery of other essential services. Cable theft is conservatively estimated to cost the South African economy about R5 billion a year directly and indirectly,” Xulu said.

He also welcomed the proposed changes to the Criminal Matters Amendment Bill 2015 which seeks to impose more stringent sentences to suspects convicted of cable theft.

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