J HARDING of Bonaero Park writes:
One wonders what the ratepayers of this country are actually paying for.
The municipality makes us pay exorbitant rates while the only beneficiaries are the council officials. The services which we are all entitled to are few and far between.
We are charged for water and electricity at way above the rate that the supplier charges the municipality while the fat cats never even read the meters installed by the previous regime.
Last month I had to pay an enormous amount in back payments because my electrical meter was read for the first time in 14 months and they say that I have been undercharged for 14 months. If this is true, then the people in charge should have to pay up, not me.
Now, this month, my electrical meter has not been read again. Are we now going to have some useless lazy person estimating my usage again for the next year? While there is an election coming soon, it is a foregone conclusion that the same people will be re-elected as the majority does not have the sense to vote for anybody that may actually do what they promise.
I am aware that Express will ask the municipality for their comment to this letter and that you will publish the non-secateurs or downright lies that you get as a reply from them, but I have read enough to say “why waste your time” – honesty and politics do not go hand in hand.
A favourite is that they are understaffed but these days it takes 10 bodies to do one man’s work. I have watched the roads department fooling around with the potholes, 10 bodies, one pick and one spade, one supervisor and seven to talk.
Themba Gadebe, metro spokesman, replies:
Ekurhuleni’s problem for not getting readings on electricity is not because of laziness or rather being useless, as cited by the client, but purely because of an access problem.
That is proven by the water meter on the same account on a monthly basis.
We have requested our energy department to advise on the possibility of installing an electricity meter on the stand.
In the meantime we have interim charges on the account (consistent to electricity by-laws) which will be reversed once we get the actual readings.
