FRUSTRATED eThekwini residents, many of whom are pensioners, are spending long hours in queues at their local Sizakala Centre’s to query exorbitant bills with “unhelpful and apathetic” staff.
On Thursday, the POST spoke to residents at the centres in Chatsworth and Phoenix. Many say they could face disconnection if they are unable to pay their bills.
Muniama Munusamy, 77, of Crossmoor, said the municipality’s “inconsistent billing” on her lights and water bills was stressful.
“I would rather just die and get it over with. What life is this worth living, honestly? I cannot afford these bills and they have cut my services.”
Sitting outside the Chatsworth Sizakala Centre with her son Alvin, Munusamy said her power had been disconnected by the municipality after she failed to pay the R7 000 arrears.
She said her account went into arrears after the city failed to provide her with an accurate reading of her utilities.
The retired textile worker said she did not know how to “operate the internet” and could not log a complaint online.
She said she lived alone and did not have a geyser.
“I cannot understand how the electricity bill is so high. I use a bucket with an element to heat the water for bathing. I am also fed up with running to the Sizakala Centre to query the bill. I have arthritis and sometimes spend hours getting attended to,” she added.
She claimed the staff at the centre were “unhelpful and apathetic”.
“They are unhelpful and almost cruel sometimes. They look at me like I am a nuisance. I used to get a print-out stating how much I am meant to pay for my lights and water. But they do not offer that service anymore.”
She said she received a grant of R2 200 a month and the municipality had asked her to pay R1 500 a month towards the arrears.
“They want me to live off R700 a month. How? I have stood in the lines to vote since 1994. But nothing has changed for the better. This government has just gotten worse over the years,” said Munusamy.
Indiran Naidoo, a former employee at the Chatsworth Sizakala Centre, said the level of effort by staff at council officers was pitiful. He worked at the centre for 35 years and now spends his time assisting elderly people to resolve their disputed utility bills.
“I don’t think the municipality gives the staff the proper training they need to do the job. It is either that or the staff just don’t care. If you walk in and ask for help they will just look at you. Look around you and you will only see elderly people in and out of this office. Most of them have taken a taxi to get here and they will be told that they can’t be helped or they must go somewhere else. This billing issue is just a reflection of how this government treats its elderly population,” Naidoo said
On the day, Naidoo was helping Poobalan Govender, 65, of Montford, to move to prepaid electricity.
Govender said he was fed up of querying his bills each month and decided to opt for the prepaid system.
“I can’t tell you how many times I came to this office and got told the same thing – they cannot help me and I must go to the Durban offices. When I go there, I am told I need to go to my district office. It is a hopeless situation,” he added.
PHOENIX
Vee Govender, 70, of Unit 9, received a bill of R14 000 in August.
“My only source of income is my monthly old age pension. My children also help me where they can but they have their own families to care for. When I received the bill, I was in shock. I could not understand how the municipality came to this amount. I live alone.”
Govender said she went to the Sizakala Centre to query the amount and to make a payment arrangement.
“I was told by a staff member that I had to pay R3 365 upfront before I could enter into a payment arrangement. I told her that I was a pensioner and the amount they expected me to pay more than my grant. I asked if I could pay R200 a month without the upfront payment. It was a no, from them. The staff had no empathy and were very cold towards me,” Govender said.
Zubedia Shaik, 65, from Rydalvale, said despite having a prepaid electricity meter since March she has been billed more than R 6000.
“From what I recall, in March I received a bill of R6 000, R7 418 for July and R8 000 in August. I am so confused. I have been to the centre numerous times to get answers. All they tell me is that it is an estimated billing.”
Shaik said apart from having a pre-paid meter, she cooked on a gas stove.
“I am alone the entire day because my husband and two sons go to work. I have paid the bills because I do not want to be disconnected. I also don’t want to make a payment.”
She said she needed answers from the municipality but nobody could tell her anything.
Imtiaz Goolam, 52, from Unit 15, said in recent months he had received two bills for R16 000 and R12 000 respectively.
He said he tried to make because he was scared the electricity would be disconnected.
“I cannot understand how the bill is so high because we don’t have water most of the time and we are constantly having power cuts. Sometimes when you look at the bill you feel hopeless because you don’t know what to do. Do I use all my money to pay the bill or do I buy food?” he asked.
Goolam said he also found some staff members at the centres unhelpful.
“We wait in long queues from early in the morning hoping for answers or some relief but get nothing. All we are told is that we have to pay.”
COMMUNITY LEADERS
Rocky Naidoo, the chairman of Havenside Civic Association, said: “The municipality’s Revenue Management System (RMS) goes offline for a week at the beginning of every financial year. This results in a delay in the loading of tariffs. Some customers have had their water loss levy insurance magically disappear off the RMS system and are not able to lodge insurance claims for water leaks,” he said.
Jonathan Annipen, an IFP councillor, said the problem dated back to August 2016 when the RMS billing system was implemented.
“When we moved over from the Coins system to RMS, configurations were not done correctly and residents started being billed higher for services without any proper explanation and it continued to go on. Non-meter readings have exacerbated the issue. In some cases the municipality has not read meters for more than three years. The estimated charges have impacted on a customer.”
The eThekwini Municipality did not comment by the time of publication.