Erica Complex residents believe a miscalculation by City Power is the reason they have been without power for almost a week.
The complex in Weltevreden Park was left in the dark after men believed to be technicians from City Power disconnected the electricity for an alleged default on their payments.
Jimmy van Vuuren, a frustrated and puzzled caretaker, who’s adamant that City Power has been misreading their meters, unpacked what led to the power cut.
“We had a visit from a City Power technician who inspected our meter and said it needed to be replaced because it could not read to the computers at head office,” said Jimmy.
After the meter was replaced, Jimmy said they were visited by another technician who claimed that the installation of the new meter was not done properly, “From that day we have had problems. We’ve had humongous readings of – 1 233 981,67 million which they say we owe them, in a matter of months, which is ridiculous.”
Prior to the meter’s replacement Jimmy, who reads the meters every month, said their average electricity bill would be about R8 000, depending on the usage on each unit. “I have seven years’ worth of readings and they are all more less the same – with winter they go up and summer they go down,” Jimmy, who manages the eight-unit complex explained.
“When they started sending us these massive bills, our managing agent sent someone to the municipality to try and sort this thing out,” he explained.
However, on Monday, 25 June, Jimmy claimed that they were visited by a technician who requested to read their meter, “… but I told him I wanted to see his work ID and he made an excuse and told me they don’t speak to the client, they only report to City of Johannesburg and would return tomorrow”.
“On Wednesday, 27 June, the technicians returned while I was away doing shopping and drove in while a neighbour was driving out. They forced open the meter box and disconnected the power,” he further explained.
They’ve called for their agent and Ward 126 councillor David Brand to expedite the problem as the power outage would result in their refrigerated food rotting.
City Power spokesperson, Sol Masolo, attributed the matter to electricity consumption. “It’s a matter of consumption. Your account is controlled by how much you use,” he said and gave an example, saying that people tend to consume more electricity in winter compared to summer.
He was also baffled to learn that the complex was billed approximately R8 000 for electricity. “R8 000 for eight units doesn’t make sense – maybe their meter was not working. A unit is not just a room. R30 000 to R40 000 makes sense,” he explained.
They’ve been advised to get their meters tested and investigate the matter further.
Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at northsider@caxton.co.za (remember to include your contact details) or phone us on 011 955 1130.
For free daily local news on the West Rand, also visit our sister newspaper websites
