By Busi Vilakazi
Susan van der Walt (92) cried tears of joy when her electricity and water were turned back on, on August 1 after eight months of living without these two commodities.
“I’m so happy and grateful for the councillor’s help. We have electricity and water again,” van der Walt said.
According to DA PR Councillor, Bongani Nkwanyane, the problem started as a result of incorrect billing which led to her power and water being cut because she couldn’t pay.
“I received her case in July after her granddaughter tried to fix the problem – without succeeding. I visited the home and after talking to van der Walt, I escalated the matter to the office of the MMC of Finance,” explained Nkwanyane.
He said the office has been of great assistance because it attended to van der Walt’s case as soon as they received it.
Refilwe Mathebula from the office of the MMC of Finance said investigations were conducted in order to assist her.
“After turning her basic service back on, we registered her for the expanded social package which is for the unemployed, youth, persons with disabilities and senior citizens,” explained Mathebula.
Granddaughter Bianca Bester said she is grateful for the assistance the office of the MMC of Finance has offered her grandmother.
“We appreciate what Clr Nkwanyene has done for me and my grandmother. Living for eight months without water and electricity had its challenges especially in winter, but with the help of the community, we survived. Having such basic services back on is a relief,” said Bianca.
Nkwanyane said it’s important to look after the elderly in the community because they are the pillars of society.
He said, “It gives me such joy to see her happy; we cannot allow the elderly to suffer.”
The executive mayor of Johannesburg Herman Mashaba has committed himself to ending the billing difficulties. A new service provider is working on a full diagnostic probe into the root causes of billing inaccuracies.
Contact DA PR Bongani Nkwanyane on 082 755 5584.
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