In a bid to address the issue of illegal electricity connections, the City of Tshwane has introduced a one-month amnesty period, encouraging residents who unlawfully connected to the electricity grid or tampered with their meters to come forward and regularise their connections without facing penalties.

Those implicated in illegal electricity connections are being encouraged to come forward and own up to their actions at the municipal customer care offices, according to Deputy Mayor and MMC for Finance Eugene Modise.

He said the call to action is part of the City's efforts to address the issue of illegal connections and promote accountability among residents.

Modise said customers would be issued a form to complete the request for normalisation of the meter and be exempted from paying a tamper fee.

Modise said: "The Tshwane multiparty coalition government recognises that illegal connections are not always done out of malice but oftentimes due to the rising cost of living for our residents and those across the country."

He said Tshwane has carried out over 66,448 disconnections since October 2024, which suggests that many residents are facing difficulties in paying their utility bills.

"To address this, the coalition government took a report to Council which, on Thursday, 27 February 2025, passed the incentive and debt-relief scheme designed to discourage electricity meter tampering often referred to as illegal connections," he said.

The council report in question proposed a debt-relief programme that could potentially see the municipality scrapping up to R10 billion in municipal debt.

The civic organisation called Lotus, Attridgeville, Saulsville Civic Association (Lasca), which has been at the forefront of a campaign calling for the City to write off their outstanding municipal bills on the grounds that they are mostly inaccurate and fabricated, has welcomed the proposal.

The amnesty period currently in force ends on March 31, 2025.

During the period customers are encouraged to take up the offer to bring their municipal accounts up to date, by visiting their nearest municipal office or by emailing their settlement request to creditcontrol@tshwane.gov.za or debtcollection@tshwane.gov.za.

Modise said: "Voluntarily reporting tampering with electricity meters will qualify for temper fee waiver provided they agree to installation of a new meter and protective device."

He explained that any additional outstanding debt will be addressed in line with the City of Tshwane's standard credit control and debt collection policy.

rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za