Betfred SA denies it owes Joburg City Power over R3m in unpaid lights bill

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Pretoria – Gambling company Betfred has denied that it owes Joburg City Power R3m in unpaid electricity bills. This comes after City Power on Wednesday disconnected electricity where the company operates its business in the Joburg CBD.

On Friday, in an email to IOL, Betfred denied they owed anything, saying power was disconnected as a result of their landlord’s dispute with City Power. According to the company, they are tenants of Polkadot Properties.

“Betfred is a tenant at the premises and is up to date with all its payments. The electricity is provided to tenants on a pre-payment basis and the disconnection is as a result of a dispute between City Power and Betfred’s landlords, Polkadot Properties.”

According to the company, they have been tenants at the premises since February 1, 2022 and that they have been diligent in all their monthly payments. The company said Polkadot Properties has made several attempts to address the billing issues with the relevant department at the City of Johannesburg without any success.

“However, they will continue to urgently attend to the issue until it is resolved,” – the company said.

Over the past few weeks, City Power has embarked on a rather aggressive revenue collection campaign by cutting off electricity in an effort to recoup some of the billions owed by residents and businesses in Johannesburg. According to the utility, the Joburg CBD alone owed more than R2bn. The campaign started in Alexandra township where the electricity debt was more than R360m.