CITY OF TSHWANE TAKEN TO COURT OVER POWER CUTS.
On Friday, Sheraton Hotel took the City to court on an urgent basis, but the matter was struck off the roll due to non-urgency. This comes after the High Court in Pretoria ordered the city to reconnect water and electricity to Club Crossing Shopping Centre on Friday. And as one court case ended another may just be about to start. Tshwane is attempting to shut down electricity at one of the University of Pretoria’s campuses.
Regarding the Club Crossing Shopping Centre, which is said to owe R2.4m for services. In a statement, the City said it was ambushed by the urgent application, saying papers were filed 20 minutes before the case was heard. As a result, the City did not file responding papers.
On Wednesday, when the City disconnected services from the hotel, hotel manager, Pascal Fouquet, pleaded for leniency for the hotel whic owes the City over R23m for water, electricity and rates. City officials disconnected Water and Sanitation’s headquarters on Thursday, saying it owes more than R1.37 million. Spokesperson Sputnik Ratau says no service delivery has been interrupted. “The Department is in consultation with the Department of Public Works to ensure that power is reconnected urgently. This matter must be resolved urgently between Public Works and City of Tshwane”, says Ratau.
”Tshwane Mayor Randal Willaims said businesses around the world have endured the strain of Covid-19 and so did the municipalities but they adjusted and found other ways to manage their businesses. Pretoria businesses, residents, government entities and government departments, owe the City over R17bn. Next week, the City of Tshwane said it would have be targeting estates and complexes who owed it.
