Police back-up for smart meter installations in SE6
BXC and the Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) have repeatedly said that residents or businesses do not have the right to refuse new water and electricity smart meters, nor can they tamper with the meters once installed.
VANDERBIJLPARK – Police and the municipal By Law Unit moved in with smart meter service provider BXC into SE6 this week to ensure that installations proceeded smoothly and electrical infrastructure was not tampered with.
BXC and the Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) have repeatedly said that residents or businesses do not have the right to refuse new water and electricity smart meters, nor can they tamper with the meters once installed.
The strong law enforcement presence follows the arrest of a man in the same area last week who allegedly robbed a BXC employee of equipment. BXC has opened a robbery case.
ELM is compelled by both council resolution and by National Treasury to replace all other meters with smart meters as part of the conditions of participating in the Municipal Debt Relief Programme, which is aimed to provide revenue security to the local authority and pay their debt.
This week (Tuesday) BXC moved into Dick King Street in SE6 to begin smart meter infrastructure installation on pavement green electrical boxes.
They were accompanied by DA Councillors Edward von Bodenstein and Maureen Dosoudil, and also by ELM By Law Unit Manager Jake Sesing, BXC Project Manager Dawid Dirks and Mojalefa Chauke Rampako of the Emfuleni Investigation unit.
Dirks praised the law enforcement community attending the installations, saying the community needed to accept that smart meter insallations were fully legal and had to be done.
Some community members gathered to protest against the installations. Both Councillors Dosoudil and Von Bodenstein said public participation procedures had been followed and BXC said it had distributed notices of its intent to install.
Some residents claimed they did not receive these notices.
