Emfuleni Councillors Yvonne Coertze for Ward 9 and Elize Aucamp for Ward 45 welcome the meter auditing currently being implemented by the Emfuleni Local Municipality but are concerned about the amount of green boxes still left open after the audit was conducted in the various areas, and the lack of closing the boxes and securing them.
According to Councillor Coertze it is no secret that many of the power failures in SE 7 are due to illegal connections being made in the open boxes by residents who are just refusing to obey the law and pay for what they consume.
“These illegal connections lead to cables being burned and residents are left in the dark for days. This is also the reason why the first meter auditing was conducted in SE7,” the coundillors say in a joint statement.
Councillor Aucamp says that it was the understanding that these audits would include the disconnection of those who connect illegally, and that all the boxes would be properly locked before the audit team moved to the next area.
A set of questions was sent to the municipal manager, requesting clarity on why the boxes are not locked, and a request was also sent to the MMC for basic services requesting that all boxes including mini subs and substations be locked in order to prevent another fruitless expenditure.
