JOHANNESBURG – Johannesburg City Power has vowed to return to Naturena after their disconnection drive was cut short by angry residents.
On Tuesday, the power utility went on a disconnection drive in the Johannesburg south area.
City Power said there is a culture of non-payment in the suburb, with Naturena residents owing the City of Johannesburg over R200 million in unpaid municipal bills.
For the second time in a week, City Power needed to cut short their disconnection drives due to safety concerns.
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On 13 September, City Power officials and Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) officers were chased away by angry residents living in hijacked buildings within the Johannesburg CBD.
City Power’s head of revenue management, Thamsanqa Mathiso, said they expected resistance.
“We are serious about revenue collection in areas like those ones, so it is not only Naturena. We are going to various areas to make sure people are paying the city.”
Mathiso said the goal of City Power is to replace the post-paid meters with its smart pre-paid meters in areas where there is a high defaulting rate.