ALBERTON – There have been numerous complaints from residents in Alberton areas regarding electricity issues, which include power outages, random power-cuts, prepaid metres and standard meters, tampering with meter boxes and other related electricity concerns. The problems have been addressed to the EMM and the electrical department, for February and previous months, as an ongoing problem.
Maria Verster, a Brackendowns resident, addressed her situation regarding her prepaid meter and her electricity which was cut off on January 29. She immediately went to Ekurhuleni to pay for the late account and the situation was then recovered. Maria arrived back home late afternoon on the same day and was informed by the technician that the box was tampered with and that she will have no power.
The EMM statement of February 20 on the marked enquiry, was: “The Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality has zero tolerance approach with regards to electricity meter interference. This particular supply was restored following due administrative processes.”
Another resident from Brackenhurst, Prince Albert Street, with a similar scenario except her meter was a standard one, said she had experienced problems with power outages from the previous week and claimed it was an ongoing matter.
Other community members have raised concerns about this in the article published on the front page of the RECORD, February 12, which informed the community to whom to address their electrical problems.
The community member was very pleased with Bruna Haipel’s assistance with service delivery. Councillor Haipel was thankful and explained to the community: “Each problem must be evaluated separately. Please, if there is a problem with any of their services, report it to 086 054 3000 and get a reference number. I know that it is sometimes impossible to get through to this number and we councillors have been raising this issue with the necessary representatives for a very long time.”
“The community is informed to make enquiry and understand that the EMM have to deal with a lot of problems in a day. There is a standard whereby the EMM should deal with a service delivery problem within a certain amount of time,” said Councillor Haipel.
