Power cuts becoming ‘a trend’
A resident, who suffers from various medical conditions, had her power disconnected by the metro, despite her account being in credit. There seems to be a growing trend in power cuts being made and reconnection fees being charged, says Ward Councillor Bronwyn Engelbrecht.

Thareen de Wet is of opinion that she is lucky to be alive after an apparent typing error by a Tshwane metro administrator left her without power for almost a week.
De Wet, who suffers from a variety of serious medical conditions, told Rekord that her health was compromised after her power was incorrectly shut off. She was, however, not the only resident in Monument Park whose electricity was wrongfully disconnected in recent months.
Mistakes by the metro are allegedly on the increase. When de Wet queried the power cut on Friday morning, she was told that the Accounts department was closed on a Friday and that nothing could be done to rectify the situation. The metro then took six additional days to reconnect De Wet’s power, despite her account being in credit.
“My account is always in credit, I am a responsible ratepayer, yet, because of a ‘finger fault’ I had to struggle to survive. I am very frail and need warm water to take my medication. I was unable to do so for six days and my calls to the metro were fruitless,” she said.
With the help of Ward Councillor Bronwyn Engelbrecht, the metro reconnected De Wet’s power. The reason for the long delay was blamed on a mapping difference within the metro. “Allegedly, the metro had this house numbered under another address.
Thus, when the power was disconnected, the official had disconnected the wrong address. This despite the fact that they can clearly see that the account is in credit,” Engelbrecht said.
De Wet said that the metro’s explanation to her did not make sense, as she has been living at the same address for the past 10 years. “We receive our bills and we pay our rates and taxes. I am not happy with the explanation I was given. I could have suffered serious consequences because of the error,” she added.
Engelbrecht said that the metro was cutting power more regularly in her ward than previously and questioned the motive behind the increased number of power cuts. “The number of incorrect power cuts to homes in my ward has significantly increased. Residents complain to me and I have noticed a trend. Residents have to then pay a re-connection fee.”
The metro had not commented by the time of going to print.