A Democratic Alliance (DA) investigation has revealed that the Thaba Chweu Municipality Executive Mayor, Fridah Nkadimeng, has misled residents and the Municipal Council in justifying the illegally imposed R184.59 AMP charge and electricity tarriff increase in the municipality.
The Mayor’s reasons for tariff increases is not based on fact and is grossly incorrect. She has intimated that among other justifications, the tariff increases were imposed in order to recoup monies that have been lost to electricity theft and illegal connections.
However, the DA found that the Mayor failed to disclose the annual R26 million in losses that have been incurred due to pre-paid meters which do not appear in the Municipality’s revenue management system.
It would seem as though the Mayor have imposed this AMP charge and electricity tarriff increase in order to make up for the millions in losses incurred due to her administration’s alleged mismanagement of the revenue management system.
Our findings are supported by various plans and reports that were tabled in Council. The Meter Audit Report outlines the following factors which have lead to increasing Eskom debt in the municipality:
- Out of 18 000 pre-paid meters only 12 000 appear on the vendor system;
- 6 000 missing and unaccounted meters which do not appear on the TCLM asset register and 1 000 meters that are not in anyone’s books;
- Meters registered to ghost vendors indicating that revenue is siphoned off;
- Revenue management systems and inter-departmental systems with no records of meters; and
- Inability of TCLM to implement demand management through its existing ripple control system.
Furthermore, a R5.1 million report which was tabled to Council on 21 November 2019, found the following:
- Utilisation of government infrastructure grant for operations;
- Substantial decrease in INEP allocation to TCLM because funds are not in use for intended purpose;
- Illegal tapping of electricity by informal settlements, electricity theft and bypassing of meters by staff; and
- Eskom distributes directly to 21 000 customers within the Municipality.
So, while theft indeed does take place, it is not at scale claimed and such narratives by the Mayor are not supported by any tangible evidence.
The DA has submitted urgent questions to Council in light of these revelations. We have also submitted a motion to debate to repel and reconfigure the electricity tariff increases and AMP charge.
This is classic of the ANC government’s continued blame shifting. These tariff increases have little to do with electricity theft, and has very much to do with administrative and financial mismanagement.