The City of Johannesburg is on a drive to recoup more than R100m owed by defaulting commercial and industrial properties.
A hard revenue recovery drive under the Project Lokisa initiative, a collaborative effort by City Power and Joburg Water, on Wednesday targeted 10 buildings which owe R41m for water and electricity.
The city says it had no choice but to enforce the disconnections after all efforts of debt recovery, through repeated notices, engagements and previous disconnections, had been exhausted.
The officials met a man who claims to be a partial owner of a six-storey commercial building that allegedly owes more than R600,000. He disputed that he had defaulted on a payment arrangement he made in March or that he had connected his electricity illegally.
“I did not connect illegally; I was never disconnected. I agree that I owe, but they have not given me enough time. I sometimes struggle with non-paying tenants, which makes it difficult for me to pay the city. Since July I have not received my bill.”
Project Lokisa is about restoring financial discipline, enforcing accountability, and creating a culture of payment that secures Johannesburg’s future and ensures service delivery for all.
— MMC of finance Loyiso Masuku
He claimed an official nonetheless went ahead and cut the building’s electricity and water.
Another building in Jeppe rented by Mildred Buthelezi owes over R2m. A quick check on her account by officials revealed that she last paid her electricity in 2010. Buthelezi said she had been paying the landlord and had no idea the building was in arrears.
Buthelezi stays with her family, but a large part of the property is used for mechanical work. The owner of the building died years ago.
City Power disconnected five buildings on the targeted list, including a building in Braamfontein that owed R8.9m. The building was illegally connected to the electricity supply of a nearby private college.
A residential building in Maboneng that owes R3m was also cut off.
MMC of finance Loyiso Masuku said the city cannot continue to subsidise persistent defaulters at the expense of honest ratepayers. “Project Lokisa is about restoring financial discipline, enforcing accountability, and creating a culture of payment that secures Johannesburg’s future and ensures service delivery for all.”
Sowetan
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