The City of Johannesburg is gearing up for an aggressive campaign aimed at removing electricity meters from over 1,300 worst defaulters that owe a staggering R978 million. This decisive action highlights the municipality's commitment to enforcing payment and enhancing service delivery in a city plagued by financial challenges.
As part of its Project Lokisa credit control drive, the City has already flagged these households, which have failed to settle accounts for over a year.
Director for Communications and Stakeholder Engagement within the Group Finance Department, Kgamanyane Maphologela, said that should these customers fail to settle their accounts or approach the City within the stipulated period, the City will be left with no choice but to remove its electricity infrastructure.
“All identified customers have already received level three disconnection notices, which inform them of the action the City intends to take, as far as the removal of electricity infrastructure at their properties. Should they fail to come forward within the stipulated period, the City will act,” he added.
Maphologela explained that under Project Lokisa, warnings are issued in stages, with level three being the final step before drastic action is taken. At this stage, the City would already have sent multiple pre-termination notices and reminders, followed by the disconnection of services.
However, many defaulting customers illegally reconnect themselves to the municipal supply, forcing the City to escalate its credit control measures.
“Level three disconnection for electricity services implies removing service connections such as cables, conductors and meters. After level 3 disconnection has been implemented at the customer’s property, the customer will have to reapply for the new service application process if they wish to be reconnected to the grid again,” he said.
Maphologela urged customers to settle their outstanding accounts immediately or visit any revenue Customer Service Centre to arrange payment, warning that failure to do so could result in disconnections and legal action.
The approach that the City of Johannesburg is taking is similar to the one that Eskom took in 2024, where the entity launched a nationwide initiative requiring all prepaid electricity customers to update their meters to Key Revision Number 2 (KRN2) by November 24.
The initiative aimed not only to standardise and secure the prepaid electricity system, reducing the risk of fraud associated with unauthorised tokens, but also to ensure that customers could legally and properly purchase electricity. Customers who failed to update their meters were unable to access electricity, effectively compelling compliance and aligning all users with industry standards.
Political parties have voiced support for the City of Johannesburg’s approach, emphasising that the largest defaulters are often well-off businesses that have exploited loopholes or even paid bribes to officials.
They stressed that affluent residents in areas like Sandton are also among the worst offenders, and that the city’s crackdown should not be perceived as targeting the poor or elderly, but rather holding those with the means accountable.
Nico de Jager, the Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng Shadow MEC for Infrastructure Development, said the city should first identify who the defaulters are and determine whether they qualify for relief programmes aimed at residents genuinely unable to pay.
“If residents have fallen on hard times and have accounts in arrears, it is their responsibility to make a payment arrangement and honour it. But if they can afford to pay and simply don’t, or bypass meters, City Power must act decisively and terminate their services,” he said.
De Jager also highlighted past issues with corruption, noting, “In the past, some of the biggest defaulters were businesses that paid bribes to officials. Now, with entities like City Power and Joburg Water having greater control over their revenue value chain, culprits will have to pay or face disconnections.”
Mabine Seabe, Rise Mzansi’s National Communications Director, emphasised the importance of revenue from services for municipalities.
“Municipalities largely depend on revenue from services like electricity. In Johannesburg’s case, around 30% of its revenue comes from power supply, which justifies taking an aggressive approach against defaulters,” he said.
He also stressed that the measure targets those able to pay.
“Well-off businesses and residents in areas like Sandton are among the worst defaulters, so this action should not be seen as an attack on the poor and elderly, who benefit from the indigent policy subsidising services for those in need,” Seabe added.
Seabe emphasised that “repairing and rebuilding Joburg requires tough and smart decisions.”
The Star