Still no water or lights for Centurion property owners

24-06-2013
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IOL Property
Source

Despite the Tshwane Metro Council's admitting the water and electricity of hundreds of Centurion residents were erroneously suspended because of an upgrade to a new computer system, many residents - forced to pay accounts that were not overdue - are still without services.

Barbara Venter, of The Reeds, said her tenants were still without water and electricity despite her paying the account plus a reconnection fee of R570 on Friday.

The services were cut without notice last Thursday, causing tension between her and the tenants. "I was told on Friday it would take 48 hours to be switched back on. At first I though it was a joke and expected it to be switched on later in the day, but nothing happened.

"My tenants are furious. They've had to make alternative arrangements with food in their freezer."

Ashaf Tefo, of Mnandi smallholdings near Centurion, said her water had been switched on in the meantime, but not without a fight.

"After standing in the queue for a very long time, I was told to pay R10 000. I have no idea where they got that amount from. It is impossible to use so much water in one month, especially if all previous accounts were about R2 000."

Tefo too was made to pay a reconnection fee.

Juliana van Schalkwyk of Louwlardia, near Midstream, said they too had been without electricity since Thursday. "I've paid the outstanding amount before the due date (Monday) plus a reconnection fee and we're still in the dark."

On Friday hundreds of infuriated Centurion residents waited in a long queue for hours after they say services were cut for no reason.

Mayoral spokesman Blessing Manale said on Friday that a "technical glitch" during the migration of a new system affected third party payments (made at Pick n Pay, Shoprite etc). He apologised for the inconvenience but said many "cuts" were because of overdue accounts.

He said yesterday that as far as he was concerned, all reconnections were done on Friday afternoon. Those not done were due to third party payment problems.