City Power said it has reported the death threats received by one of its technicians from a “leader” to the South African Police Services (Saps) after a disconnection drive in Lenasia.
This comes after a team of technicians had just disconnected Lens Station Shopping Complex which owes over R3 million.
Watch the video of the ‘leader’ making death threats against City Power technicians:
Death threats
In a video that has been circulating on social media, a business owner can be seen threatening City Power officials with death threats.
“Next time, don’t come. You’ll die next time you come here. Anybody come here next time, I am swearing you, anybody come here to do any nonsense, they will die [sic],” the businessman said.
Hostage
The mob also insulted and held one car with three technicians hostage.
City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said the regional utility strongly condemns the actions of the few business owners who threatened technicians.
“While the team was shaken by the violence and threats, we are resolute that the disconnection drive will continue in Lenasia as we beef up police escorts.
“These drives have been necessitated by the culture of non-payment by some customers in the Lenasia area, which has resulted in the SDC collecting low revenues in comparison to the population.
“City Power is owed over R1.2 billion by customers in the Lenasia supply area. The worrying factor is the number of businesses in the community that are either illegally connected to our network, defaulting on their payments, or bypassing meters.
“A senior technician was threatened with death by one of the leaders, a matter which is being reported to the police,” Mangena said.
Vandalism
Mangena said Lenasia is one of the communities that are plagued by vandalism and theft, resulting in high costs of repairs and material replacement for City Power.
“While we appreciate some strides made towards the protection of our infrastructure by the community, the high rate of nonpayment of services is also crippling our resources,” Mangena said.
The Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) advised the power utility to abandon the operation in Lenasia as it became increasingly clear that the safety of the technicians could not be guaranteed,
Apartheid museum
Last month, City Power has cut off the electricity to the popular Apartheid Museum for its R1.8 million electricity debt.
The popular tourist destination was among several business centres that continued to refuse to pay for services they consume.
City Power has been on an aggressive revenue collection operation to recoup millions from defaulting customers.
NOW READ: City Power cuts off Apartheid Museum’s power for R1.8 million debt
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