Westdene pensioner’s electric shock
An elderly Westdene resident received a R43 653 electricity bill for a private home he has never resided in.
Willem Nicolaas Janse van Vuuren, who has been living in a unit at an old-age home for the past 16 years, said he used to rent a home in Newlands before relocating to the old-age home.
He moved to a smaller unit in the same home after his wife passed away. “I have never owned or lived in a private home in Westdene, I don’t understand why I am receiving these bills because I use prepaid electricity,” said the 81-year-old.
According to Van Vuuren, there is no City Power office he had not been to to report the problem since 2011, but nobody can help him. His neighbour and close friend Susari Trimm said she has been sending faxes to a City Power number (011-358-3408/9) which was published in a newspaper for electricity enquiries, but had not received any response.
“The first fax I sent was on 8 October 2011, then again on 3 August 2012 and my last one was 24 April this year. I haven’t received a single response.”
City Power’s Stan Maphumulo said he has informed the operations team and they were going to investigate the problem and after 48 hours they would be ready with detailed information.
