City Power R16.3bn in the red from illegal connections, historical debts
City Power is reportedly on the brink of financial collapse.
City Power CEO Tshifularo Mashava. Picture: X/CityPowerJhb
702’s Bongani Bingwa speaks with Tshifularo Mashava, CEO of City Power.
Listen below:
Johannesburg City Power is reportedly sitting with a R16.3 billion negative balance.
This undermines the municipality’s ability to deliver essential services.
Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero has been accused of concealing crucial financial information, which the City has denied.
Mashava says the entity has been in overdraft since 2016, and its indebtedness has been worsening over the years.
One major contributor to their overdraft is energy theft and illegal connections.
She says 140,000 of City Power's 400,000 customers have breached their meters in some way and are not paying for electricity.
“There are all these criminal elements happening and unfortunately that cripples finances.”
- Tshifularo Mashava, CEO - City Power
Mashava says they would like to see the law changed so that people can face jail time for bypassing their meters.
RELATED: Allegations of improper recruitment at City Power are baseless says CEO
In addition to the illegal connections, historical debt is still a problem.
“About R2 billion of that debt is government debt. That means Gauteng province and the national government have used electricity from City Power and have yet to pay for it.”
- Tshifularo Mashava, CEO - City Power
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