City Power inspectors, without identifying themselves, summarily cut resident Raymond Havenga from the grid despite the family’s full cooperation, claiming they were refused access to his property.
Havenga detailed his recent experience with the service entity in a letter to the Record. At 8.57am on a Tuesday morning he received a phone call from his son, informing him that City Power officials were at their house, trying to gain access to the property to inspect the meter.
“Not one of the individuals wanted to identify themselves to my son, so I instructed him to ask them to wait while I make my way home to assist them,” Havenga wrote.
“At 9.02am my son phoned me again, saying they would not wait and are threatening to switch the power off; I then gave him permission to allow them access to the property.”
According to Havenga he arrived to his home at 9.05am and found the two inspectors still outside his property.
“They informed me they had already switched the power off, the reason being that they couldn’t gain access.
“I disputed this and requested them to switch my power back on as well as conduct the inspection they were sent to do.”
According to Havenga one inspector refused, saying he already sent a job card to City Power and could only switch the power back on once authorized by them. Havenga said the inspectors alleged they were at the property on two previous dates as well and could not gain access. Havenga questioned why no notice or message with contact details was left for him.
“Their modus operandi is to cut the power if they don’t gain access, whatever the reason may be, as a way of generating revenue,” an angry Havenga said.
“Nobody knows how they are paid by City Power; is their income based on the number of disconnections and reconnections?”
Havenga received a notice from the inspectors on which it states City Power appointed contractors to audit meter readings, by name Leano Solutions. He was able to make contact with one of the persons whose contact details were provided on the notice. He describes himself as lucky in that, after a phone call to the company, an inspector was instructed to switch his power back on.
“I herewith express my sincere appreciation for the help provided by Brandon Josephe [Leano Solutions],” Havenga stated, and said the letter addressed to the Record was in hopes of warning other residents against being caught in a similar situation.
“What happened I found extremely offensive and not in the spirit of building relationships in the context of our country,” Havenga said about the attitude of the inspectors.
“What would have happened if I were on holiday for an extended period, who would have picked up the costs with reference to damages? My account is paid up and not in arrears as is the case with so many others. I never refused entry yet my power was switched off illegally.
His message to City Power read, “Please channel your energies to all the illegal connections, optimize your income from the people that are not paying and stop victimizing law-abiding citizens.”
Details have been forwarded to City Power spokesperson Sol Masolo for comment in a later article.
View a copy of the notice Havenga received (specific details removed to respect privacy):
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