Electricity tamperer brought to book

A FRAUDSTER facing charges of malicious damage to municipal property after tampering with household electrical meter boxes in Arboretum, has put illegal electrical connections back into the spotlight.

Brett Deyzel appeared in the Richards Bay Magistrate’s Court on Monday after he reportedly posed as a contractor and illegally replaced electrical meter boxes.

The matter was postponed to 10 May for further investigation.

The uMhlathuze Municipality issued a scam alert, informing residents to be aware of illegal electrical work being undertaken on meter systems by fraudsters.

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City spokesperson Mdu Ncalane urged the community to be vigilant of anyone who wants to tamper with their power boxes and report it urgently or verify it with the city.

‘Deyzel has been operating in the Richards Bay area, pretending to be an approved Eskom contractor who ‘calibrates ‘ pre-payment meters.

‘During the calibration process some meters are damaged and replaced with new ones, and in some instances the meters are bypassed

‘Any customers who had work performed by Deyzel are requested to contact the Energy and Electrical Services Department to avoid being charged penalties for tampering.

‘Installations found to have had the meters removed, bypassed or calibrated will be subject to payment of calculated electricity consumed for the period when no electricity was purchased from the municipality.

‘There are costs involved for the replacement of pre-payment meters if the municipal meters have been removed or damaged,’ said Ncalane.