SABIE – A household electricity account of R55 000 per month and an alleged illegal disconnection have forced residents to seek legal recourse against the Thaba Chweu Municipality (TCM). A local business owner claims he losy thousands of rand daily due to an alleged illegal disconnection of his electricity by TCM.
When the power to Soapreme Cleaners was cut off on January 3 due to an outstanding balance of over R130 000, owner Mr Marius Brummer promptly laid a criminal charge against the council. According to Brummer, TCM ignored a 2012 court order that prohibits any disconnection.
Problems arising from incorrect billing and inaccurate records relating to the owners of the building started as soon as Brummer occupied the premises in September of 2012. According to him, he has received two bills in 18 months and pays “ a few thousand” rand into the account every few months in the hope that this will cover the actual consumption. This approach has, unfortunately for Brummer, not worked. At the end of last year he suddenly received a statement indicating that he owed R60 000 for electricity. This was on top of another R72 000 owed by the previous owner of the building.
“We lose income when the power is off- we can’t operate without it and can basically do nothing,” an exasperating Brummer told Lowvelder this week. Brummer said he would welcome the opportunity to meet with someone from TCM; he simply wants to know what his actual consumption is and to have the correct details on the system so that he can get an accurate, monthly account. He, obviously, also does not want to be held liable for the outstanding balance of a previous occupier.
Brummer’s wife, Nicole, said the electricity meter for the premises is out of order and that the box was left open at all times which posed a serious risk to the public.
After a visit by the sherrif of the court on January 14, he instructed Brummer that he can get his electrician to switch the power back on, depsite protests by Thaba Chweu. The power was restored on January 15.
The owner of another prominent business in town, the Woodsman, said that although TCM had not disconnected his power, he hadreceived unrealistic invoices and found it near impossible to reach anyone at TCM to discuss the matter with. A recent bill for household consumption amounted to R55 000 and a similar amount was charged for his business. “We pay according to what we think our monthly consumption is,” he said. He has also approached an attorney for legal advice.
Mr Godfrey Nkosi of TCM, responded that it was the responsibility of the account holder to ensure that TCM had the correct address for billing. He also stated that TCM would “never be in contempt of court” by ignoring a court order. He asked who the Brummer’s had presented their court order to? He concluded that he was not aware of this case. Mrs Nicole Brummer in turn responded that they had given their address to the office in Sabie more thanonce, and had presented the court order here. They had also spoken to the revenue manager Mr Mike Mashilo, to no avail.
SAPS spokesman, Sgt Gerald Sedibe, confirmed that a case of contempt of court was investigated and the matter had been referred to the public prosecutor for a decision.
