Executive Mayor of Tshwane, Kgosientso Ramokgopa, has dismissed allegations the city will have to pay about R1.2 billion over the next two years as a penalty to exit an agreement with PEU for smart electricity meters.

Mayor Ramokgopa said he did not know where the claims had emanated from, but that the city had only paid just above R830 million for services provided by the company.

“That document is manufactured. We don’t know where it is coming from. We can account for what we have paid for and we have paid for the service,” he said on Friday in Pretoria, at a media interface to unpack the State of The Capital Address (SOCA).

Allegations the municipality would have to pay PEU Capital Partners more than R1.2 billion for the terminated smart meter contract made media headlines earlier this week.

Last week, the city announced it had terminated its smart metering contract with the company with immediate effect.

The decision to terminate was largely based on the negative financial and economic impact of the project on the city.

The roll-out of the smart meters commenced in October 2013, and 6 572 Large Power Users (LPUs) and 6 348 Small Power Users (SPUs) smart meters were installed in parts of the city.

“Since the roll-out of the project, the city has paid the service provider R830 290 787 in terms of the Master Services Agreement (MSA) concluded between the two parties. No further roll-out of the smart meter is anticipated beyond this point,” the Mayor said.