No Municipal prepaid electricity after hours

After hours prepaid electricity vending during the week, weekends and public holidays from the uMhlathuze Municipal offices will be terminated as of next month. The City Executive Committee passed the resolution on Tuesday in an effort to curb operational expenditure, which does not negatively affect service delivery. The decision was made in light of sufficient third party vending facilities currently in the market with no apparent need for a costly in-house facility. It was further recommended that the termination of services effective from 1 April be reviewed after a minimum period of two years. ‘The current vending options available at the municipal offices cost the ratepayers approximately R951 129 per annum on overtime,’ said uMhlathuze City Senior Manager: Financial Services, Mxolisi Kunene. ‘By suspending the vending, a saving of R1 001 455 can be achieved for the 2010/2011 budget, while a saving of R237 782 will be seen in the 2009/2010 financial year.’ All consumers will still be able to purchase electricity after hours at various points by making use of third party vendors, as well as utilising cell phone and Internet services available. ‘At no time, will a consumer not be able to purchase electricity after hours and the municipality will be able to curb their expenses and improve their cash flow situation. ‘We will also set up emergency in-house services should the third party vending services be offline for a period greater than 12 hours. ‘The local economic development spin-off cannot be underestimated. There are numerous spaza shops, tuck shops, convenience stores and telephone stores that can now sell electricity tokens,’ said Kunene. The normal office hours service will continue between 7.30am and 3pm on weekdays, excluding public holidays. Approximately R61 564 920 pre-paid electricity is sold at the municipal cash offices annually at a cost to Council of R2 723 000.

---