Ekurhuleni Municipality takes legal action against city officials allegedly responsible for tampering with electricity accounts

JOHANNESBURG - The Ekurhuleni Municipality is taking legal action against a group of city officials allegedly responsible for tampering with electricity accounts.

A report seen by Eyewitness News reveals that 1,660 households and businesses in the city had their accounts manipulated.

This means the involved customers have been underpaying the municipality for electricity, while others had their accounts completely erased from the system.

While the report suggests these fraudulent activities led to severe financial losses amounting to R270 million, the figure is likely to increase once investigations are concluded.

The City of Ekurhuleni, in a confidential report seen by Eyewitness News, says it has suspended two ICT technicians due to their unauthorised access to the metro’s billing database.

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Two more criminal cases were opened against fraudulent service providers and two warrants of arrest were subsequently issued.

Finance MMC Jongizizwe Dlabathi said investigations will prove whether these officials were allegedly responsible for the manipulation of account balances and tempering with the city’s financial records.

"We have agreed on an independent forensic investigation. Once we receive those reports and findings, it should then tell us who was involved and the necessary actions that we must take."

The city said it is working with a dismissed network engineer to gather evidence in hopes of dismantling the syndicate.