Tshwane residents left in dark over R25 000 tamper claims
· Citizen
Complaints of an alleged electricity extortion syndicate in Tshwane has fallen on deaf ears, leaving residents hopeless and in the dark.
Barend Botha, from Booysens in Pretoria, has been without power since 21 May… and there’s no help from the city.
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Botha without power since 21 May
“When we got home in the afternoon, the power was off, but there was no disconnection notice or anything,” he said.
“To this day, we haven’t received any paperwork from the city. We reported the fault, thinking the power had simply tripped at the pole.
“The next Monday, one of their contractors reconnected the power at the pole, but it immediately went off again.
“A contractor from the credit control department then tested our meter.
“He broke the seal and the panel behind the meter to check for a bypass or bridge connection, but found nothing.
Contractor broke seal, found no bypass
“He handed me the seal and told me to throw it away and said the meter was in tamper mode and we needed to obtain a tamper code,” said Botha.
“We were sent to the credit control office, and that’s where the real trouble started – they shouted at us, accused us, and said they wouldn’t switch the power back on unless we paid,” he said.
“I have asked them numerous times to show me where I tampered with the power, but nobody shows up.
“I have been called to pay R25 000 and threatened. I can’t afford it. I don’t need to tamper with the power.
“When I bought this house, the electricity bill was R125 000 in arrears and we paid it up to date.
Credit control demanded payment
“The water was also in arrears of about R70 000, which we also paid.
“Why would I bring the account up to date just to tamper with the power?” Botha asked. “It doesn’t add up. I can’t be held accountable for something I didn’t do.”
Botha has solar installed at his house with a gas geyser, which covers the basics.
“The first month, in June, was a nightmare. I calculated it cost me over R7 000 for the first three weeks for diesel.
“Our food went off and the area where we stay isn’t that safe,” he added.
Residents allegedly forced to sell cars to pay tampering fines
He was not the only resident with this issue and said he knows of a woman who had to sell her car to pay a fine and another resident who refused to pay a bribe was threatened with his life.
“He fears for his life and his family,” Botha added.
DA Tshwane spokesperson for finance Jacqui Uys said Tshwane residents are being accused of tampering with their prepaid meters when they did not do so.
“On 18 March, the DA formally wrote to the city manager after numerous residents reported a disturbing pattern involving unlawful electricity disconnections, the removal of electricity meters, inflated tampering penalties and individuals offering to make these fines disappear in exchange for cash payments.
“The city manager responded by issuing a statement to warn residents of possible extortion by individuals falsely claiming to act on behalf of the city,” she said.
DA wrote to city manager
While this acknowledgement was welcomed, the pattern continued and those responsible have not been identified and stopped, Uys said.
Last week, Uys accompanied a resident to the police station to open a case.
“Shockingly, Saps declined to open the case, leaving affected residents without the protection and intervention they deserved,” she added.
Uys said the DA refuses to allow this matter to disappear and it will formally approach the public protector to investigate both the alleged corruption and maladministration in the council, as well as the apparent failure by the relevant authorities to adequately investigate these serious allegations despite repeated warnings.
The City of Tshwane had not commented by the time of publication.