A R20 Million Tug-of-War: Madibeng’s Power Cut as Tshwane Demands Payment

The power struggle between municipalities has taken a literal turn, leaving residents caught in the middle. The Madibeng Local Municipality in the North West is once again in the darkfiguratively and, at times, literallyafter the City of Tshwane cut its electricity supply over an unpaid bill of R20 million.

This is not a new script. Madibeng has a history of payment failures with Tshwane, including a 2022 High Court battle over a R258 million water debt. Now, the issue is power, and Tshwane’s mayor, Nasiphi Moya, is playing hardball.

“We Have Been Here Before”: A Mayor’s Tough Stance

Leading her aggressive Tshwane Ya Tima revenue-collection campaign, Mayor Moya is targeting government departments and municipalities that collectively owe Tshwane a staggering R1.9 billion. Madibeng’s R20 million portion has pushed the city to switch off supply to key areas, including parts of Hartbeespoort, Refentse, and Sunway.

“We have been here before. We switch them off, they ask for an arrangement, and then they renege,” Moya stated bluntly. “It is unsustainable for us. I am going to take a very tough stance.”

Her logic is simple: Tshwane needs this revenue to fund its own infrastructure maintenance and reduce outages for its paying customers. The debtors, she insists, must “follow us to the office” to settle their accounts.

A Cycle of Cut-Offs and Broken Promises

On the ground, the pattern is frustratingly familiar. Ward 30 Councillor Graem Peplar outlined a cycle of disconnections: Tshwane cut power in June, then again in September, each time leading to rushed payment arrangements that later falter. The latest cut came after Madibeng allegedly settled arrears but failed to pay its current November account.

Madibeng’s Response: Blame Shifts to Illegal Connections

In response, Madibeng Mayor Douglas Maimane claimed the municipality settled the debt on Tuesday but remained unsure if power had been restored. He shifted the focus, however, attributing the core problem to rampant illegal connections in areas like Sunway and Refentse.

“Most of our people in these areas are illegally connected to the system, and they are getting free electricity,” Maimane said, suggesting this makes accurate billing impossible. His proposed solutions include installing prepaid meters and seeking technological fixes to curb theft.

Residents Pay the Price

While officials debate responsibility and solutions, residents endure the consequences: unreliable power, disrupted lives, and a nagging uncertainty about when the lights will go off again. The standoff highlights a crippling dysfunction in inter-governmental relations, where one municipality’s revenue crisis becomes another’s service delivery nightmare. For the people of Madibeng, the electricity isn’t just a utilityit’s a bargaining chip in a R20 million game they never agreed to play.

{Source: IOL}

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