The Tshwane University of Technology lost power after failing to pay a R5.8 million electricity bill. This happened during the Ya Tima Campaign where Mayor Nasiphi Moya leads efforts to cut power to customers who don’t pay their bills. The city wants to get back money from businesses & big places that owe them. The Ya Tima program helps the city collect money it needs for basic services. Mayor Moya & city workers went to different places on Monday October 15 2025 to turn off power. They found many big buildings weren’t paying their bills. Some people think this is good for fixing the city’s money problems. Others worry about how it affects places like schools and hotels. That day they dealt with about R25 million in unpaid bills. The Ya Tima program started this year to get back billions in unpaid bills by cutting off water and power. Other cities like Johannesburg have similar programs. Mayor Moya goes with the teams herself to show how serious this is. She says big places have gotten used to not paying on time. This makes it hard for the city to fix things and help its people.
Tshwane University of Technology Faces Blackout Over R5.8 Million Electricity Debt
On Monday TUT lost power because they didn’t pay their R5.8 million electricity bill. The university needs power for teaching and student housing. The power cut stopped many activities on campus. City workers came without warning to cut the power as part of their Ya Tima program. This problem happens to many public places in South Africa. For example SITA also had their power cut in August 2025 over a R3.2 million bill. TUT paid their bill quickly and got their power back the same day. The university spokesperson said they want to keep good relations with the city and pay bills on time. But many universities struggle with money because they don’t get enough government funding. Students and staff were upset about losing power. One student told news reporters it stopped online classes and lab work. TUT is a big school with more than 60000 students and helps train people for jobs. The power cut shows how schools like TUT and University of Pretoria find it hard to pay their bills when costs keep going up.
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The Ya Tima team kept working after TUT. They cut power at the Protea Hotel in Hatfield which owed R7 million. The hotel is part of Marriott and serves business guests & tourists. They had to use generators to keep basic services running. The hotel staff did not want to comment but they were trying to fix the debt problem. In Arcadia they cut power to a building that owed R3.7 million. In Sunnyside they found a property on Arcadia Street that was stealing electricity. This building owed R2 million and was bypassing the city’s meter. The city sealed the building and took legal steps against the owners. Moya from the city said they will keep working to get back money owed to them. They need this money to provide services to people. The Ya Tima project has been successful in getting back millions of rand. They even cut power to big companies like Transnet which owed R56 million. In one day they got back R18 million from areas like Pretoria West and Soshanguve. Some people think they are too harsh especially since businesses are still recovering from Covid. But others say this needs to happen because the city is owed R23 billion in total.
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The city of Tshwane has big money problems. Many people and businesses have not paid their bills which adds up to billions in debt. In 2024 the city started the Ya Tima program to get this money back. They are going after the biggest unpaid accounts first. Teams go to buildings to give warnings and cut off services when needed. The city wants to get back R6 billion each year. This money would fix roads & water systems. But collecting payments has been hard. Last year they only got 85% of what people owed instead of their 95% goal. This means the city doesn’t have enough money to work properly. Some people steal electricity or mess with their meters. Others just can’t pay because times are tough. The Ya Tima program has gotten back R500 million so far but there’s still a long way to go. Some people are fighting back with lawyers. Areas like Sunnyside and Hatfield have lots of students and businesses that don’t pay. Many buildings have renters who share spaces without proper agreements. The city is fighting back by putting in smart meters and giving big fines to people who cheat the system. Anyone caught tampering can be fined up to R100000.
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When people don’t pay their bills it makes it hard for Tshwane to provide basic services. The city must take care of many roads & supply water and power to millions of people. Mayor Moya wants to use the money to fix problems like sewage issues and improve poor areas. Without money these fixes can’t happen and people get angry. Some people think the payment campaign is good because they’re tired of paying extra for those who don’t pay. Others think it’s too harsh and want easier payment plans. Business owners are worried about losing customers when their power gets cut off. When the university paid quickly it showed the plan works but made people wonder why bills got so big. Some political groups like the DA support getting people to pay but say the city isn’t treating everyone the same. They point out that government offices owe lots of money too. The EFF party thinks the campaign is unfair to poor people and wants to know how the city spends its money.
