MAYBERRY PARK – A resident of Knoppiesdoring, Mayberry Park in Alberton, who only wants to be identified as Joe, raised awareness on February 27 about the meter/electrical box with the meters attached to the main unit, which remained open for months on end including last year.
His concern is for children who play around in the area. As he explained, “What if a child comes to the box and is inquisitive? What if the child gets electrocuted and dies? The parents could sue Ekurhuleni for a millions, who is going to pay? If someone has to die, they are going to increase the rates to cover their mistakes. I am up to date with my account payments and my rates run over R1 100, not counting my prepaid electricity, but there is no service delivery here!
“The same problems occur with street lights that burn for two days straight, but then they want to inform us about saving power/electricity.”
After they had installed a prepaid meter in the main unit, the price of Joe’s electricity has reduced from R2 100 or R2 200 to R900 or R1000 every month. “Why?” asks Joe.
Richard Brown, a resident of Brackenhurst, is concerned about the meter box in Chrissie Street and the condition it is left in. According to Richard, he has been paying for estimated readings and every time he has approached the EMM to get a meter reading, he is told it has been read but the meter hasn’t been working and there is a hole in the meter. The new meters had been fitted around two to three months ago, and the meters have since been stolen and the original old one has been reinstalled.
There has been no comment from EMM on the concerns raised by a community member about prepaid meters and the state in which it has been left open. He is concerned that this could cause further problems.
