Estate disconnects electric meters after defaulted levies
A young mother talks to Fourways Review about how her estate management allegedly abuses power by disconnecting electricity services leaving them in the dark for three weeks.
At first, they thought it was just a minor technical glitch but after it went on for three weeks, residents from Soho Junction in Broadacres realised they were dealing with problems far bigger than imagined – they had not been able to buy prepaid electricity for three weeks now, leaving them in the dark.
A young mother who lives in the estates and requested to remain anonymous to protect her business said the managing agents and its trustees are to blame.
“They disconnected that service because of levies that are owed. Usually, in these situations what happens is that the managing agents and the trustees are supposed to get a court order that states that they are legally entitled to do that.”
But it was the other way round according to the mother. “They just terminated without any court order or pre-termination notice which made the past three weeks in the complex dysfunctional.”
The mother admits that she owes levies because she is financially overstretched. She told us she had made means to make payments but was fruitless.
“I had to hustle, I borrowed money from friends, and I did try to negotiate. I lost my job and I said to them that we are all going through a rough time and a lot of prices have increased so you cannot expect the impossible. You should have a mechanism that is viable to solve the problem.”
She said her biggest fight is the fact that the management is forcing residents with outstanding balances to sign an acknowledgement of debt and dictating the payment plan. She currently owes R70 000 which she said includes interest rates and special levies.
“Now for a person who cannot afford the R3 200 of levies like me, cannot be bullied into saying ‘I’ll pay double the amount’ knowing for a fact that I will default and then by law the property management can take me to court then come and repossess my staff. So my concern is that they are doing things illegally.”
They now rely on candles. “We were charging the lamps at my friend’s office. And we are lucky that the complex has a gas stove for us to cook.”
She contacted the Community Schemes Ombud Services (CSOS) to intervene. The regulatory authority for community service gave Soho Junction Body Corporate until September 15 to restore the services through an email seen by Fourways Review.
“Soho Junction Body Corporate is required to immediately restore the electricity of the applicant and attend to the dispute regarding arrear levy payment in the appropriate forum. Should we not receive any communication stating that the suspension has been lifted before the due date above, the matter will proceed to adjudication on an urgent basis.
“We wish to place on record that the termination or reduction of any service (i.e. water, electricity, or gas) to a section without a court order has always been unlawful, irrespective of what is contained in a Body Corporate’s rules,” the email sent by the case management officer, Thandiwe Jadezweni, reads.
When reached out to give their side of the story, Geoff Edeling whom the young mother referred us to said he is not affiliated with the property. He promised to connect us with relevant bodies and would revert, “If they do agree to speak to you,” he said.
It’s not illegal for them to cut the power but unlawful, said an attorney Given Sithole, whom we asked for an opinion as an attorney, “Electricity is a municipality bill and as such only they can cut the power provided she is paying directly to the municipality. If she is paying it to the body corporate and then they pay the municipality then it’s a different story.”
He added: “In terms of the AOD, it’s good that she did not sign it at this point because then it becomes a liquid document and they can just use it to get a default judgment against her for the amount. What the body corporate should have done is issue a summons against her for the outstanding amount.”
Sithole advised, “Both parties can go back and forth to check which dates she must pay and how much. But in the interim, during settlement negotiations, she must make payments in good faith to try and settle the amount in case the matter does go to court, she is able to show the court that she is doing her best to settle the amount and possibly also ask the court that she be awarded costs of suit.”
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