UNISA Settles its R2.6 Million Debt With City Power a Day Before Disconnection. In a recent turn of events, the University of South Africa (Unisa) successfully averted a major service interruption by settling its substantial R2.6 million debt with City Power.
This payment came just in time to prevent the disconnection of electricity to its Florida Campus in Johannesburg. Initially facing a disconnection threat set for Thursday, the university acted swiftly to address its financial obligations.
City Power, which had Unisa’s Florida Campus on its imminent cutoff list, confirmed the receipt of the payment. Isaac Mangena, a spokesperson for City Power, revealed that the university’s total outstanding amount had reached R5 million before recent payments were made.
“The institution managed to make a significant payment of R2.5 million earlier in the month and followed up with an additional R2.6 million just a day before the scheduled disconnection,” Mangena explained.
This payment was part of a larger revenue recovery effort conducted by City Power at the Roodepoort Service Delivery Centre (SDC). The operation aimed to recover around R29 million in total from various customers. Despite Unisa’s timely resolution of its dues, two other major businesses in the area weren’t as fortunate and faced disconnection after accumulating debts exceeding R6 million each.
Mangena highlighted an alarming trend among some businesses in the Roodepoort area, including cases of illegal connections and meter tampering.
“One of the businesses, which operates heavy machinery, was discovered to have illegally connected to our network,” he noted. Such actions not only constitute legal breaches but also place additional strain on the power grid and can lead to broader community disruptions.
The Roodepoort community has struggled with issues of vandalism and theft, exacerbating the challenges faced by City Power. These criminal activities lead to significant repair costs and material losses, severely impacting service delivery and infrastructure maintenance.
Despite some community efforts to safeguard electrical infrastructure, the high incidence of non-payment and illegal connections continues to undermine these initiatives.
City Power stresses that disconnecting service is a measure of last resort. “We strongly encourage customers to engage with us and set up payment arrangements to manage their debts proactively,” Mangena advised. This approach helps prevent service interruptions and ensures a more stable financial ecosystem for all involved parties.
As City Power grapples with recovering over R400 million owed by customers across the Roodepoort SDC supply area, it becomes clear that sustainable solutions are needed to address non-payment and illegal activities that threaten the viability of utility services.
This situation underscores the importance of collective responsibility among businesses and residents to ensure the financial health and operational stability of utility providers.
