Bitou: Power thieves in the house
Several senior Bitou municipal officials will be suspended immediately after allegedly bypassing electricity metres and contributing to more than R9-million in electricity losses during the last financial year.
In an effort to find the source of the massive electricity losses – highlighted in the Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu’s report released last year – the municipality embarked on a sting operation on Tuesday night, January 27 after finding that 47 municipal officials had not purchased electricity in five years.
“As a starting point we wanted to clean our own house first, before knocking on the door of the greater public. We therefore decided to launch an internal forensic investigation to find the source of the losses and we were surprised to find that 47 of our own staff were possibly involved in this,” Bitou mayor Memory Booysen said.
He added that with the assistance of independent electricians, auditors and the South African Police Service (SAPS) municipal officials went to each of the identified homes on Tuesday night to inspect electricity metres.
“We decided to get independent electricians in as we did not want information about the sting operation to be leaked and we also feared that some of our own electricians could have assisted the officials in bypassing the metres – possibly accepting bribes in exchange for it.”
More than 40 of the metres on the properties accessed were found to have been tampered with.
“We could not access all the homes as owners literally had their pit bulls meet us at the door, while others claimed their keys were with their spouses. But we are going back there today [January 28].”
Municipal manager Allen Paulse said the most senior officials implicated in this matter would be suspended with immediate effect while the rest would be suspended once disciplinary hearings were finalised.
Listen to a sound clip of Bitou executive mayor Memory Booysen’s announcement of this situation, recorded at the Bitou council chambers on Wednesday, January 28 here.
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Source: Knysna-Plett Herald