City Power will not budge with claim
Four months later still no joy for residents who suffered damages from power surges.
Phillipus Jacobs of Ham Street has suffered huge financial losses because of the faulty mini-substation or electricity box in the street that has been acting up since January.
Depending on whose diagnosis one listens to, the reason for the problems with the mini-substation is either that it had burned out, cables were stolen or it is plain incompetence. The latter is the opinion of a City Power employee who wants to stay anonymous out of fear of losing his job.
Residences and businesses in and around the mini-substation in the street were affected in January, February and March after power surges destroyed a variety of electrical appliances. Their losses exceed R130 000.
Jacobs and his family had to replace a microwave, television, washing machine, computer screen, two DStv decoders, repair a geyser and replace a cordless phone, their electric fence, intercom system and fishpond pump. Jacobs estimates the damage at around R30 000.
After the first incident he went to see City Power in person and was promised that someone would attend to the problem. Later he was informed that his claim had been referred to the insurance company, which recently informed him that it was cable theft and therefore they would not entertain the claim. Jacobs also says that City Power ceased to communicate with him.
Jacobs is also unhappy about the fact that he is not able to reach his contact person at City Power anymore and that he has been given a faulty fax number.
The City Power insider told the Roodepoort record that the public is being lied to. According to the source, a fuse had blown and two different contractors who were send out could not find this relatively easy problem.
