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Port Elizabeth - Property owners who let out their properties do not always realise to what extent they can be held liable if their tenants break the law. Owners can face civil claims and criminal charges if tenants are found guilty of offences.
In an investigation into the procedures that municipalities follow when residents use electricity illegally – by means of illegal connections or through bypassing electricity meters - legal expert in municipal cases Chantelle Gladwin, partner at Schindlers Attorneys, found that owners have a responsibility to ensure that tenants do not break the law.
“Owners need to prove that they take reasonable steps to know what is happening in their properties,” says Gladwin. “Otherwise a case of accessory to a crime might be considered by the authorities.”
It is increasingly common for tenants to bypass electricity meters - which raises the question of who is liable for the electricity theft.
Firstly, criminal charges can be brought against the person who tampers with the meter, which is illegal in itself. For instance, Johannesburg municipality bylaws state that any person who contravenes or fails to comply with legislation shall be guilty of a criminal offence and upon conviction, be liable for a fine of up to R2 000 or six months' imprisonment.
The owner or occupier shall be deemed guilty of the breach of the bylaw, unless they can show that they did not know and exercised reasonable diligence.
“For instance,” says Gladwin, “if a property owner sees lights burning at night and if he knows that electricity to his property was cut by the municipality, then there is obviously something wrong. He should report it immediately.”
If the owner allows electricity theft, he runs the risk of prosecution under several laws, including the Proceeds of Crime Act. Authorities can make a case that proceeds from the stolen electricity contributed towards acquiring the property, and steps can be taken to confiscate the property.
Even if property owners take all reasonable steps to ensure that there will be no electricity theft (or water theft) and it does happen, they can still end up facing a civil claim for the damage to electricity meters, the cost of an electrician to remove the offending piece of wire which bypasses the meter and the cost of the stolen electricity.
“A ruling in the Constitutional Court in 2006 found that property owners are ultimately liable for municipal accounts for electricity and water consumption. Since 2008, all municipalities in SA adopted the policy not to open new service accounts for tenants, but only for property owners,” Gladwin told Fin24.
It puts the onus solely on the shoulders of property owners to ensure that tenants pay their bills timeously, or civil proceedings can be taken against them and they will eventually have to pay the bill.
- Fin24
*After chasing money on the JSE for 15 years, Adriaan Kruger is now living a relaxed lifestyle in Wilderness and lectures economics part-time at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. Views expressed are his own.
In an investigation into the procedures that municipalities follow when residents use electricity illegally – by means of illegal connections or through bypassing electricity meters - legal expert in municipal cases Chantelle Gladwin, partner at Schindlers Attorneys, found that owners have a responsibility to ensure that tenants do not break the law.
“Owners need to prove that they take reasonable steps to know what is happening in their properties,” says Gladwin. “Otherwise a case of accessory to a crime might be considered by the authorities.”
It is increasingly common for tenants to bypass electricity meters - which raises the question of who is liable for the electricity theft.
Firstly, criminal charges can be brought against the person who tampers with the meter, which is illegal in itself. For instance, Johannesburg municipality bylaws state that any person who contravenes or fails to comply with legislation shall be guilty of a criminal offence and upon conviction, be liable for a fine of up to R2 000 or six months' imprisonment.
The owner or occupier shall be deemed guilty of the breach of the bylaw, unless they can show that they did not know and exercised reasonable diligence.
“For instance,” says Gladwin, “if a property owner sees lights burning at night and if he knows that electricity to his property was cut by the municipality, then there is obviously something wrong. He should report it immediately.”
If the owner allows electricity theft, he runs the risk of prosecution under several laws, including the Proceeds of Crime Act. Authorities can make a case that proceeds from the stolen electricity contributed towards acquiring the property, and steps can be taken to confiscate the property.
Even if property owners take all reasonable steps to ensure that there will be no electricity theft (or water theft) and it does happen, they can still end up facing a civil claim for the damage to electricity meters, the cost of an electrician to remove the offending piece of wire which bypasses the meter and the cost of the stolen electricity.
“A ruling in the Constitutional Court in 2006 found that property owners are ultimately liable for municipal accounts for electricity and water consumption. Since 2008, all municipalities in SA adopted the policy not to open new service accounts for tenants, but only for property owners,” Gladwin told Fin24.
It puts the onus solely on the shoulders of property owners to ensure that tenants pay their bills timeously, or civil proceedings can be taken against them and they will eventually have to pay the bill.
- Fin24
*After chasing money on the JSE for 15 years, Adriaan Kruger is now living a relaxed lifestyle in Wilderness and lectures economics part-time at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. Views expressed are his own.
