'Do not wait to get caught': Eskom continues cutting power to non-paying users in Gauteng
30 January 2020
Power utility Eskom says it is continuing with a campaign it started late last year in Gauteng to cut off power to users that have failed to pay or rigged illegal connections.
"If you want to avoid being disconnected, come forward. Even if you have rigged your meter, you can come forward, collect your fine and find a way forward to start paying. Do not wait to get caught," Eskom spokesperson in Gauteng, Reneiloe Semenya told Fin24 on Thursday.
But a Soweto ANC councillor, Mpho Sesedinyane, says the utility is being arrogant by disconnecting power to homes, saying communities would resist "unapologetically and without fear of intimidation".
The disconnection drive comes as the debt-laden utility seeks to recover billions of rands it is owed by municipalities. Late last year the utility's former chairperson, Jabu Mabuza, said total municipal debt could approach R30bn by the end of 2019. Eskom's own debt stands at about R450bn, and it does not make enough from selling electricity at current prices to pay off interest on the debt.