TAMPERERS switched off
The lights were on, but the meter reading was zero
CITY officials pounced on businesses running illegal electricity connections at an Empangeni Rail premises on Wednesday morning, isolating 17 unlawful power connections.
Most of the disconnects involved emerging businesses, and the inspection team has vowed to return next month to again check on compliance here and elsewhere.
The city loses millions of rands each year due to meter tampering.
The ZO understands that the municipality has lost between R300 000 and R400 000 of revenue in a few months in that part of the city alone.
“They are using compressors, fridges and grinders for their daily business, but they are not paying for the electricity. We have noticed on our system that we are thousands of rands poorer due to that," one of the officials said.
One of the food outlets was found with zero meter readings, but all appliances such as fridges and stoves were functioning, and the lights were on.
As the officials conducted their door-to-door inspection, several businesses were found to have interfered with their electricity meter boxes, while other boxes were found with broken seals. On further investigation, they resealed some meter boxes after testing revealed that there were no transgressions, but other businesses were left in the dark and their operations were forced to stop.
One of the substations was deactivated after it was found wide open, and showing some signs of illegal activities.
The officials advised those whose electricity was disconnected to immediately report to the city’s electricity department to discuss restoration of supply.
“What is going to happen is that the office would then decide whether to conduct a further consumption audit before reconnecting their electricity.
"The audit would give us the exact amount that each individual has to pay,” said a member of the operation.
“If they fail to comply we would remove and cut off all the electrical cables to their businesses,’ he said.