Electricity has been restored at the embattled Passenger Railway Agency of South Africa (PRASA) headquarters in Hatfield Pretoria. The city of Tshwane has been disconnecting water and power supply of companies with unpaid debt.
PRASA was one of the state-owned entities which owed 28 million in water and electricity bills. On Thursday, Tshwane Executive Mayor Randall Williams together with his team were escorted by the Tshwane Metro Police Department to the PRASA Headquarters. Social media was a buzz as plumbers and electricians were called in to disconnect the meters.
The City of Tshwane has been on the role unleashing what is called hashtag TshwaneYaTima (Tshwane switches off). The new campaign has helped the city recover more that 300 million in a week using the method of cracking down on non-compliers.
When the mayor of Tshwane arrived at the PRASA headquarters some of the senior officials were there trying to talk with him but he was having none of it. He told the officials that the city was not taken seriously. A strong message was sent when the power supply was cut off.
This aggressive move has helped the city recover some of the money owed to it. R17 billion is owed to the municipality and the city is determined to get the money back dark or blue. R500 million has already been collected by the city and more businesses are making payments Williams told the press.
The city of Johannesburg has followed suit by cutting electricity and water supply of non-compliers. Sandton City is still dark due to non-compliance.
Source: IOL, Sowetan, News24, image by IOL
