Residents blame outages for not paying for power

Residents of Pennyville and Tshepisong on the West rand say they do not pay for electricity because the supply is unreliable.

Brian Ndlovu of Pennyville, west of Johannesburg, said they sometimes go for days without electricity.

“How can we continue to pay for electricity not knowing whether this is load-shedding or not. They brought back electricity meters, but I don’t pay anymore because after they fixed it, it switched off again,” Ndlovu said.

Another resident, Nelisiwe Gasa, said: “I can’t afford to pay for electricity because I am unemployed, and it is also unreliable.”

Johanna Mahlatsi of Tshepisong Phase 7, west of Joburg, said electricity goes off for hours on a daily basis.

“The electricity goes off four times a day for about five hours and only comes back at night. Most of us don’t pay for electricity because we have the issue of these meter boxes; they burn on their own,” said Mahlatsi.

Another resident, Rose Boikanyo, said: “We are now living from hand to month because when you buy meat in bulk to save money, it rots because we don't have electricity for hours a day. We only have electricity around 10pm and you can’t wake up and cook at that time.”

Tshidi Gumede, a bottle store owner in Alexandra, north of Joburg, said: “It's really tough and it's bad [with load reduction]. What's worse is that electricity doesn't last at all. I have two prepaid meters because I have extended the place and so in each meter I put R2,000 but it never lasts long because after a week I load another R2,000.

“I [don't have power for] two hours [during load reduction] and lose R5,000 worth of sales because no one wants to buy a warm drink. If my neighbours aren't paying, [City Power] should cut their cables because it's really unfair that I have to [suffer],” said Gumede. 

Another business owner, Sello Masike, who runs a car wash, said: “People think everything is for free. I pay close to R5,000 for electricity per month and then I have to make plans when there is no power just because someone decided not to pay for the power. It’s really nonsense,” said Masike.

Another Alex resident, Thabiso Mokgatle, said: “Electricity is expensive and it doesn’t even last for long. I thought we just had load-shedding again... but it (load reduction) is not the same as load-shedding. If people are not paying, why must we pay for them? Why isn’t the city cutting them off?”