Amnesty offered

MOSSEL BAY NEWS - The municipality is appealing to the community not to tamper with its electricity meters and not to use illegal electrical connections, because they can be life threatening.

Children especially have been electrocuted.

The municipality points out in a media statement: "In Mossel Bay, children have always been the victims of illegal power connections. Do not gamble with the lives of your loved ones to save a few rands."

Since July 2019, the municipality has disconnected more than 300 illegal electrical connections that have not been legally reconnected. To date, only 58 consumers have paid the necessary fees to legally reconnect their power.

"The municipality, in collaboration with the police, has repeatedly launched several operations to remove illegal connections, remove loose and unsafe wires across roads, and combat electricity theft. Nevertheless, there is a continuing loss of income as some households are illegally reselling electricity at exorbitant rates," the municipality notes.

The theft of electricity also leads to repeated power outages in some areas with low voltage networks, owing to overload conditions and short circuits due to faulty or broken wiring.

Recent audits in the various areas have shown that, although some of the consumers have not used electricity for the past two to three years, many of the residents have resorted to illegal connections from various supply sources. In this way, frequent quarrels with their neighbours are caused and unsafe conditions are created in their homes.

Amnesty extended

The municipality has instituted an amnesty period for the reinstallation of broken electricity meters or meters that have been tampered with.

At the most recent municipal council meeting, an amnesty period of six months from 1 August 2021 to 31 January 2022 for the reinstallation of tampered/bypassed electricity meters, has been approved.

In the process, the following real costs will have to be recovered:

where existing electricity meters can be reused, R693,50 (VAT included) is charged to cover the installation costs, and
where the existing electricity meters are damaged, a levy of R 1 629 (VAT included) is levied to replace the meter and cover installation costs.

The normal reinstallation fee of R2 452 is waived for the duration of the amnesty period when applicants have applied for amnesty. By using the amnesty period, consumers will therefore be able to save significantly when they have legal and safe electricity supply restored to their homes.

In addition, many will again be able to legally purchase power and not be further exploited by those who resell electricity to each other at astronomical prices.