City Power said it had reported death threats received by one of its technicians from “leaders” to the South African Police Service (Saps) following the drive disconnection in Lenasia.
This comes after a team of technicians recently disconnected the Lens Station Shopping Complex which owes more than R3 million.
Watch the video of the ‘leader’ making death threats against City Power technicians:
Death threats
In a video that has gone viral on social media, the business owner is seen threatening City Power officials with death threats.
“Don’t come tomorrow. You will die if you come here. Whoever comes here in the future, I swear, whoever comes here to do nonsense, will die. [sic]”said the businessman.
hostage
The crowd also insulted and held one car with three technicians hostage.
City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said the regional utility strongly condemned the actions of some business owners who threatened technicians.
“While the team is shaken by the violence and threats, we have decided that the breakaway drive will continue in Lenasia while we increase our police presence.
“This drive is necessitated by the culture of non-payment by some customers in the Lenasia region, which causes SDC to collect very little revenue compared to the population.
“City Power is owed more than R1.2 billion by customers in the Lenasia supply area. A worrying factor is the number of businesses in the community who are illegally connected to our network, not making payments, or bypassing the meter.
“A senior technician was threatened with death by one of the leaders, a matter which was reported to the police,” said Mangena.
Vandalism
Mangena said that Lenasia is one of the communities that has experienced vandalism and theft, resulting in high repair and replacement costs for City Power.
“While we appreciate some of the steps taken to protect our infrastructure by the community, the high level of unpaid services is also draining our resources,” Mangena said.
The Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) advised the electricity utility to abandon operations in Lenasia as it became clear that the safety of its technicians could not be guaranteed,
The Apartheid Museum
Last month, City Power turned off the electricity to the popular Apartheid Museum for an electricity debt of R1.8 million.
The popular tourist destination is among several business centers that continue to refuse to pay for the services they consume.
City Power has been in aggressive revenue collection operations to recover millions from defaulting customers.
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