Tembisa residents to unite to challenge high billing by City of Ekurhuleni
Mahlangu said poor pensioners are forced to use their grant money to pay the ever-escalating tariffs
All sections in Tembisa are required to convene meetings to elect two delegates per section to attend a meeting on August 11.
Chairperson of the concerned residents, Sazi Matangari, said the objective of the meeting is to discuss high tariff increases for Tembisa at Rabasotho MMC Office at 9am.
“Tembisa residents have been complaining since the electricity bill has been linked to other municipal services.
“Residents are forced to pay for services which they do not have.
“Recently, residents have been sent an SMS to go and collect 240 litre wheelie bins in Kempton Park,” said Matangari.
He said since 2009 residents were billed for those 240 litre wheelie bins which were not in their possession.
This resulted in residents having made arrangements for payments of bins that are not delivered to the community.
Residents are billed differently for wheelie bins that are laying around in Kempton Park.
Residents are issued with letters for disconnection fees, pre-termination fees and final notices demanding that they pay two separate water accounts. One for sewerage services and the other for drinking yet only one meter is installed.
“Meter reading is not a true reflection of what is actually written on the meter, it is only estimations,” said the secretary of the concerned residents, Patmann Mahlangu.
Mahlangu added that solar geysers are only installed in RDP houses and not in the old residential areas.
He said assessment rates differ from one four-room house to another.
Mahlangu said poor pensioners are forced to use their grant money to pay the ever-escalating tariffs.
“Pensioners are refused indigent status due to family outside rooms which the City assumes they are used for making a profit as opposed to accommodating the family. The concerned residents of Tembisa have noted all the problems and the meeting is organised to deal with all those problems.
Each and every section must have two representatives at that meeting to engage and help find solutions,” said Matangari.
For more information call 083 409 7489 or 083 647 6827.
