Pensioner asked to pay R9000 or stay in the dark
A pensioner who is qualified for the indigent programme says he has been struggling to load electricity on his meter box. Municipal officials insist he must pay R9 000 debt before they reconnect him.
The Tshwane metro amnesty is only for the city-imposed tamper fee and not for all municipal debts.
This follows after a pensioner, qualified for the indigent programme (Poorest of the Poor), was struggling to buy electricity for his house in Mamelodi.
Johannes Mahlanga (66) from Mamelodi East has come forward and claimed the issue of amnesty is not working for him.
Mahlangu said he qualified for the indigent programme and received a new meter box.
However, according to him, customer care officials from Mamelodi municipal offices still refused to help him or switch on his lights unless he paid an outstanding amount of R9 000.
He claimed he applied and qualified for the indigent programme and even received an SMS of being approved last June.
Mahlangu said he has no electricity in his house despite Tshwane metro installing the new electricity meter box last month.
He added that he is unable to load electricity.
He said he went to municipal offices in Mamelodi to inquire about his electricity. One of the officials from the indigent programme took him to customer care and explained that he qualified for POP.
“But still they insisted that I pay R9 000,” said Mahlangu.
He said he had been staying in a dark house for almost two months but customer care officials refused to help him unless he paid the full amount or made a payment arrangement with the metro.
He claimed he is unemployed and depends on social grants to survive.
Mahlangu said he was disappointed by the metro officials because not long ago the deputy mayor was in Mamelodi talking about amnesty for tampering with meters and scrapping of municipal debt.
Addressing residents at Moretele Park resort, Tshwane Deputy Mayor Eugene Modise dispelled rumours that residents would lose their homes over meter tampering and said the metro has been providing amnesty for amounts up to R29 000.
Modise told the crowd the metro would be scrapping the debt automatically for indigent households.
Residents attending the meeting complained to the deputy mayor about rude officials and social workers who refused to do their jobs, making it difficult for those who qualify for the indigent programme.
President of Mamelodi Concerned Residents for Service Delivery Oupa Mtshweni said he knew something like this would happen.
He said thousands of residents came to his place to complain about the bad service they get at the municipal offices in Mamelodi.
Mtshweni said rent debt must be scrapped for residents of Mamelodi, because the problem stems from the incorrect, estimated billing system which affected most and not only those the metro regards as indigents.
He said local organisations together with residents demanded that the metro first deals with illegal connections at the squatter camps before helping the residents of Mamelodi, but the metro went ahead despite the warnings.
Mamelodi residents are still waiting for a public participation meeting with the metro to discuss the scrapping of all municipal debt.
Metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said in terms of the promulgated tariffs for the 2024/25 financial year per the Provincial Gazette, No 214 of June 19 2024, the Council imposes a tamper fee for tampering with the city’s electricity infrastructure.
Mashigo said the metro has imposed an increased tamper fee with an escalation rate ranging between 14.4% to 67.1% on a second tampering.
The amnesty for illegal connection of electricity or electricity theft results in the waiver of the tamper fee.
Therefore, the customer benefits in that having applied for amnesty for illegal electricity connection or electricity theft, that customer is not charged the tamper fee.
According to the Indigent Policy, all debt in arrears on an indigent customer’s account is written off after an approval and registration process.
However, normal credit control and debt collection processes are instituted against defaulting indigent consumers.
He said the object of this measure is to prevent indigent customers from accumulating arrear debt. Should they be consuming more than the monthly national basic free electricity – and water limits on the monthly free quotas – they must first pay their discounted levies every month before they can buy electricity.
Customers are encouraged to visit their nearest municipal office or contact the city’s customer care via email at: customercare@tshwane.gov.za.
In the case of arrear debt challenges with their municipal accounts, customers can reach the city at: creditcontrol@tshwane.gov.za or debtcollection@tshwane.gov.za.
He said regarding the specific query affecting the customer referenced in the enquiry, that the customer should contact his nearest municipal office to deal with the specific challenges raised.
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