UMngeni Local Municipality loses R100 million annually to electricity theft, Mayor Pappas reveals
Umngeni Mayor Chris Pappas
Image: Tumi Pakkies Independent Newspapers
The uMngeni Local Municipality is losing close to R100 million each year as a result of electricity theft.
This theft, said Mayor Chris Pappas, has undermined the municipality's ability to deliver much-needed services.
The municipality was recently ranked as number one in the province when it comes to service delivery.
In an interview with The Mercury recently, Pappas said the Mphophomeni Township was one of the areas where there were serious challenges with theft of services. However he said collection efforts are ongoing.
“We are losing close to R100 million as a result of electricity theft, especially in townships such as Mphophomeni. Can you imagine what we could do if we were able to collect even just R50 million of that amount? We could deliver much more in services than we are able to at the moment. We are a small municipality that has a small budget, but with that money, we will be able to meet a lot of the community's needs,” said the mayor.
Pappas said service delivery is a cornerstone of any leadership governing a municipality, and it is important to meet some needs of the community, even if it is not everything they want.
He said the municipality believes it is important to deliver some services to the communities. “People might not get everything they want, but they are getting something, and that way people begin to have faith in the system. We are not getting everything we want, but we are getting something.”