Municipality in South Africa lost R441-million to illegal connections and billing failures in just 9 months
The eMalahleni Local Municipality, formerly Witbank, lost R441,004,865.38 in the last three quarters of the current financial year due to “non-technical losses” in power supply.
These losses included illegal electricity connections, meter tampering, infrastructure vandalism, and outdated infrastructure, some of which are more than 50 years old.
Ag nee man, R441 million lost in only nine months?
That is not a small electricity problem anymore, my bru. That is nearly half a billion rand disappearing through illegal connections, meter tampering, vandalism, bad billing and infrastructure older than some people’s grandparents.
And then they call it “non-technical losses”.
Nee man. Call it what it is: theft, neglect and poor management.
The municipality can calculate the loss right down to the last 38 cents, but apparently it cannot properly track who is using electricity, who is paying, which meters are being tampered with, or which equipment should have been replaced twenty years ago.
And who must carry the cost now?
The same residents who pay every month.
The pensioner with proof of payment.
The small business threatened with disconnection.
The household getting estimated bills because the billing system is confused.
Those people will now hear that tariffs must increase because the municipality is under financial pressure.
That is mos backwards.
It is like running a restaurant where half the customers eat for free, the till is broken, people steal the wiring, and then management increases prices for the only three customers who actually paid.
Illegal connections are dangerous and must be removed, yes. But where is the ongoing enforcement? Where are the inspections, smart meters, prosecutions and follow-up visits?
And this thing of fifty-year-old infrastructure - did nobody know how old it was?
Infrastructure does not suddenly wake up one morning and announce, “Surprise, I am finished.”
There should have been maintenance plans, replacement schedules and budgets years ago.
The municipality must explain exactly how this happened, who was responsible, how much can be recovered and what is being done to stop it happening again.
Because residents are tired of paying their own electricity bills and then also paying for the electricity everybody else stole.
R441 million is not a “loss”.
It is a complete system failure, finish and klaar.
