Major court ruling about illegal electricity connections in South Africa

[Nat Quinn]

The Johannesburg High Court has handed down a significant ruling empowering electricity distributors in South Africa, like municipalities, to refuse service to power thieves.

“The court has ruled that it cannot compel the City of Johannesburg (COJ) to continue to supply electricity to a massive residential block of flats in Hillbrow which had, for years, illegally connected itself to the grid,” the metro said in a statement on Tuesday.

“This court should not compel the respondents [COJ, City Power] to sell electricity to someone who has effectively stolen it from them in the past,” Judge Bashier Vally ruled.

“The court should not encourage a breakdown in the rule of law which it, in my view, would be doing if it were to overlook the conduct of the applicant [39 Van Der Merwe Street Hillbrow] and compel the respondents to provide electricity to it.”

The City of Johannesburg said it had been locked in a legal battle with the Hillbrow property for over a decade, beginning in 2012, over disputed electricity payments.

“The property had over the years sought court orders to prevent the City from disconnecting their electricity supply,” the metro stated.

“The City contends the property that owes more than R2.9m, which has accumulated over the years because of short payments to the City.”

The metro said the short payments were apparent from 39 Van Der Merwe Street in Hillbrow’s own evidence submitted to the court.

“In one of the months, their records reveal they only paid as little as R1,948.59 for electricity for the entire block of flats,” the City of Joburg said.

“The Hillbrow property could not explain how the 208 tenants could have consumed less than R15 worth of electricity every month over the years.”

For its calculations, the metro even assumed the 208-tenant figure was the total number of people living in the building.

It said this was a completely unrealistic assumption, considering it is a large building with many flats and that tenancy relates to the flat, not the persons occupying it.

Based on the figures submitted to the court, Judge Vally agreed with the metro that its electricity meter had been “tampered with.”

The judgment also found that “interim interdicts are capable of being, have been, and continue to be abused by the party that succeeds in securing or resisting one.”

Judge Vally dismissed 39 Van Der Merwe Street Hillbrow’s urgent application with costs.

Joburg welcomed the judgment, saying many defaulters had run to the courts to interdict the metro from cutting off their services over the years.

“After obtaining these interdicts, they would often want to prolong them and not pay the City at all in the meantime until the matter is settled,” it stated.

The metro said it is owed a lot of money due to illegal connections by businesses, residents, and big organisations.

“The City’s current debtor’s book is sitting at close to R48 billion, for rates and taxes, sewer, electricity, and water — which is unsustainable.”

SOURCE:Major court ruling about illegal electricity connections in South Africa (mybroadband.co.za)

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