News24.com | WATCH | Tenants up in arms after City Power disconnects 'hijacked' Hillbrow buildings' electricity

• City Power has disconnected two buildings in Hillbrow that allegedly owe it millions.
• The entity says it hasn't received any payments for more than a decade.
• But a tenant has disputed that the connections were illegal.

Tenants of two buildings in Hillbrow are up in arms after City Power removed allegedly illegal electricity connections, claiming that the buildings and occupants owe it millions of rand.

They say they will reconnect themselves by the end of the week and claim that they didn't pay for services because the building was hijacked in 2015.

"We were paying R850 per month for rent from people claiming to be working for the City of Johannesburg. We only became aware that the building was hijacked when we demanded they maintain it. We then stopped paying," one tenant, Bongeka Ngoyiye, told News24.

She claimed that their electricity meters were not from City Power.

READ | City Power cuts illegal electricity connections at homes in Gauteng suburb

City Power officials pounced on Wimbledon and Jeanlow Courts in Wolmarans Street on Monday and removed all connections that were considered to be illegal.

Their operation followed an attempt on Friday during which tenants allegedly prevented them from accessing the building and assaulted an official. The official is in the hospital in ICU.

When they returned on Monday, private security guards and Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) officers were there to assist.

They stripped all wires that ran from the street into the buildings.

Ngoyiye, a tenant in Jeanlow Court, claimed that they had obtained a court order in 2019 that prevented City Power from disconnecting their electricity.

Ngoyiye said:

"I heard on Friday that some residents have assaulted a City Power official who attempted to disconnect the buildings. That didn't concern me. Today's operation shocked us. We have a court order against City Power. I tried explaining that we have been waiting for City Power to come to us to resolve this matter. We are willing to pay."

"We are going to take City Power to court again. Currently, we are not paying for water too. We were waiting for the City to come to us. They never came. We have been writing emails to them, pleading with them."

Ngoyiye said Jeanlow Court was managed by a committee of four, which included herself.

"We pay rent in the form of salaries to our security guards and cleaners we have employed. City Power claims we (Jeanlow Court) owe them nearly R4.3 million. We are not going to pay that amount of money. We have been patient with them. We will have electricity restored to the building within a week," she said.

READ | City Power warns about illegal electricity connections after 2 children trip on a live wire and die

It is alleged that Wimbledon Court owes City Power more than R5 million.

City Power general manager Charles Mohlaka said the two buildings were among many in Johannesburg that owe the entity millions of rand.

Mohlaka promised that their intelligence officials would alert them if the two buildings were reconnected. 

"Should they wish to be reconnected, they must approach our offices. We have ripped every illegally connected cable. Our equipment was at risk of blowing. Again, those illegal connections posed risks to lives.

"Before we reconnect them, they must provide us with the certificate of compliance that the building is safe.

"We will know if they reconnect. We will also find those responsible for illegally reconnecting the two buildings," Mohlaka warned.