Residents feel powerless over electricity issues

KOMATIPOORT – Residents in the Suiddorp area were left without electricity for several hours on Thursday after a service provider removed a transformer allegedly due to late payment.

They noticed the removal of the transformer at the end of Bourhill Street and upon enquiry, it was discovered that the supplier, Enersel Technologies, had repossessed it. The Nkomazi Local Municipality (NLM) had reportedly not paid for the transformer and related services rendered.

The company’s director, Pieter Jacobs, told Corridor Gazette that he was asked to urgently deliver a replacement transformer when one “exploded” on May 5, plunging the town in an electricity crisis.

He reportedly provided services to NLM twice before this and had not been paid.

Local electrician Willie Broodryk, who is a mining electricity controller, said he had personally inspected the damaged transformer the night it blew up. He advised the municipality that more transformers could follow the same route as they needed to be serviced annually and clearly had not been.

Broodryk offered his expertise and tools to service the transformers, a proposal that the local manager and his team accepted. The transformer was then replaced.

This replacement was reinstalled later the same day, after the supplier had been paid.

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Residents are unhappy that non-payment from the municipality resulted in electricity being cut off unnecessarily.

The O’Reilly and Engelbrech families, who run a WhatsApp support group dealing with water and electricity problems, were asked to intervene but luckily the problem received the necessary attention.

Sources told Corridor Gazette that it seems like the management did not believe that the transformer was damaged and was urgently replaced, suspected fraud of some kind and therefore refused to pay the supplier.

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Another huge problem, not only in Komatipoort, is that residents’ electricity supply is blocked or cut off without the proper prior notification. This often happens after working hours and over weekends.

One resident, Gerrie du Plessis, said his accounts are all paid up, yet his supply was blocked. Despite numerous attempts to find out what happened from NLM, he could not get any answers.

The electricians deployed from the technical division don’t know whose accounts are outstanding or paid and work on instruction. They can therefore not respond to consumers’ complaints or queries. At the Treasury Department, the relevant person can’t be traced or don’t answer their calls.

These problems result in serious inconveniences for consumers who did nothing wrong.

Dave Lombaard had the same problem. His electricity was cut off without warning on Friday evening and he only managed to get it restored on Monday afternoon. His wife has cancer and they are dependent on electricity for some of her treatments.

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Residents worry that these electricity problems could seriously affect people dependent on electricity for health reasons.

According to the O’Reillies and Engelbrecht, they have received several similar complaints. Many consumers do not know who to contact at the municipality or, if they call, cannot reach the relevant persons.

Several Malalane residents also told Corridor Gazette that they do not receive their municipal bills in time. Some have not even received April’s accounts. Residents say they struggle for months to get the correct account and are then penalised for lack of payment.

Jan Engelbrecht, who is a lawyer, confirmed that the procedures followed by municipality are in contravention of the NERSA rules. Proper notice and sufficient opportunity must be given to consumers to respond or perform, before blackouts are implemented.

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He stated that consumers will only be able to pay promptly once communication between the treasury and electricity departments have been improved and the lawful procedures in regards to cut-offs are followed.

The municipality’s spokesman, Cyril Ripinga, told the newspaper that he would investigate all of these complaints and allegations and find out how it can be addressed. He apologised for any inconvenience caused due to the actions of the municipality.

Ripinga urged community members to call NLM’s 24-hour Customer Care Line on 013-790-0990 to report problems or for queries. He stated that the number would be working after hours and over weekends, when the majority of the municipality’s other offices are closed.