Power wrongfully cut off
City Power acknowledged the mistake but did not give any indication as to whether they will reimburse Leon for his losses.
SOUTH HILLS – Leon Pretorius, from Lindley Road in South Hills, is livid after City Power unjustly disconnected his power on Monday, September 28, and reportedly took three days to rectify their mistake.
City Power was meant to disconnect the power to an address in Holmdene Road.
“We were surprised when we got home late on Monday to find that we had no power. We are up to date with our payments and we couldn’t understand why our power was off. City Power had cut off our power by removing the wire to the meter. It took them three days to rectify their mistake. I know that they are supposed to take two to five hours to reconnect the electricity after being notified,” explained Leon.
While the power was off, Leon lost tropical fish and a three-piece Technics hi-fi. “Everything in the fridge went off. I have three fish tanks where I keep my tropical fish and about 50 of them died because of this power cut. I don’t know how many times we called City Power to rectify this. What makes me unhappy is that the letter we found in our postbox was addressed to the Holmdene Road address. How did they then end up cutting our power?” he said.
He estimates his losses at about R40 000.
City Power spokesperson, Louis Pieterse, said the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) runs the billing system and credit control especially when people are in arrears. “CoJ instruct City Power to cut off or reconnect the electricity. After notification, it takes 48 hours for City Power to reconnect the electricity and in other instances it takes only 24 hours. People are encouraged to phone 011 375 5555 to lodge their concerns and complaints,” noted Louis.
City Power acknowledged the mistake but did not give any indication as to whether they will reimburse Leon for his losses.
