RAPULA MOATSHE
Residents of Mamelodi have vowed to push back at the City of Tshwane’s threat to crack down on those found guilty of electricity meter tampering.
They have been advocating for the municipality to waive the R29 000 penalty fee for people who bypassed electricity meters.
Recently, residents in Mamelodi West marched to municipal offices in the township to demand free registration of meters on the new system known as the token identity rollover (TID) programme.
Community leader Joseph Kgatlhe said people have resorted to bypassing electricity meters due to financial constraints.
He said during the march the affected residents complained that the City's exorbitant penalty fee for those caught tampering is unaffordable.
He warned the City not to dictate oppressive tactics reminiscent of apartheid-era strategies and expect people to comply.
“Let them do what they want to do and see who is going to win at the end of the day. They are not going to impose an apartheid tactics on us,” he said.
He said a mass community meeting is scheduled for February 2, where he will provide feedback on the electricity meter tampering issue and outline a clear plan of action for the way forward.
He proposed that the City should cancel all outstanding debt and then transition everyone to a new system, allowing them to track who is purchasing electricity and who is not.
Kgatlhe estimated that approximately 80% of residents in the area are affected by electricity meter tampering, adding that it is not unique to Mamelodi, but rather a widespread problem affecting the entire City of Tshwane.
“The City is inadvertently creating this problem. When they block someone’s prepaid meter card due to outstanding debt, people will find alternative means to access electricity,” he said.
Kgatlhe was responding to Tshwane Mayor Nasiphi Moya’s announcement that the City has already deployed municipal teams to identify tampered meters across seven regions and is committed to tackling the scourge.
“Meter tampering, which is conducted primarily to bypass the City’s electricity measurement, should be condemned by all residents,” she said.
Moya said the City has found a total of 2 057 tampered meters since the start of the financial year in July 2024.
“About 442 of these accounts were on second tamper identification and 249 on the third, which shows determination to bypass paying for electricity. The total cost of the accumulative tampering is R74 974 391,” she said.
She said the mayoral executive has committed to improving service delivery and that increasing revenue collection is paramount to achieving the objective.
“Residents who choose to steal electricity instead of paying for it destroy efforts to improve service delivery for all residents,” she said.
According to her, a total of 1 201 tampered meters were reconnected since July 2024 at a cost of R33 841 157 paid for reconnection fees.
“The remedial action we have taken for repeat meter-tampering offenders includes referring to them the Tshwane Metro Police Department as criminal cases. The City will increase its efforts to continue converting conventional meters to prepaid ones. Our target for each month is 883,” she said.
She said there were still 107 476 prepaid meters that have yet to be converted to TID while 253 014 prepaid meters are vending on the converted system.
“We appeal to residents not to tamper with municipal infrastructure. We will deal decisively with lawlessness targeting the City’s efforts to increase revenue collection,” she said.