Soweto’s unpaid electricity bill totals R4 billion, and there is no sign it is going to be paid soon. This is according to a report in the Sunday Times.

The newspaper reported that Eskom had only managed a “compliance level of 16% among Soweto customers”.

“Of the 80,000 Soweto households without prepaid meters, only one in six pays for the electricity it uses,” the Sunday Times reported.

The report quoted Soweto pensioner Martha Mokate, who said that she last paid her electricity bill 15 years ago.

After she was disconnected for non-payment, she reconnected herself and now doesn’t “even get electricity bills any more”.

Stop electricity theft, and you can stop load shedding

Electricity expert Chris Yelland previously said the elimination of non-technical electricity losses in South Africa – electricity theft and non-payment – would negate the need for load shedding.

Yelland said non-technical losses amounted to about 7% of energy (kWh) generated in South Africa, and that within City Power Johannesburg about 32% of all electricity delivered was lost to theft and non-payment.

He added that more than 80% of the electricity supplied by Eskom to the residents and businesses of Soweto was either stolen or not paid for.

Yelland explained that because non-technical electricity losses are not continuous and constant, but follow typical consumption patterns, they contribute more than 8% to the national peak demand.

“I would estimate stolen or unpaid electricity to contribute about 10% to the evening peak demand,” said Yelland.

This, Yelland said, means that the elimination of non-technical losses would be significant, and would reduce peak demand by around 3000MW.

A 3000MW reduction in peak demand would stop the need for the load shedding South Africans are currently experiencing.

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