The DA has established that the Msunduzi Municipality does not have a policy that forces residents to pay for the replacement of cables stolen outside their premises.
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The DA wants the Msunduzi Municipality to refund thousands of rand to residents who were forced to pay for the replacement of electricity cables that were stolen outside their properties before their power supply could be reconnected..
According to DA’s Ward 30 Councillor Rachel Soobiah, residents had for many years been forced to suffer twice for cable theft, which is rife in the municipality, by first being without an electricity supply and secondly paying 50% of cable replacement before getting their lights restored.
She stated that, although there had never been a council resolution mandating this practice, some residents who were unfortunate to have cables, which connect electricity to their homes, stolen outside their properties, have been forced to pay before the municipality restores their power.
She said since the residents were desperate to have their power restored, they would succumb and pay.
“Sometimes residents would be without electricity for 12 to 15 days when it is not even their fault.”
Soobiah said when residents report theft of cables outside their homes, the municipality would make them go to the nearest police stations to open cases and also go to the municipality's electricity department to fill in a form.
“Then they would be told to pay approximately R3,000, which would be 50% of the expenses for restoring the stolen cables.”
She said this practice started some years ago, and residents have been complaining about it.
During a meeting at the City Hall on March 5, Municipal Manager Felani Mndebele told the DA ward councillors in the northern part of the city that there was no policy obliging residents to pay for crime they had no control over.
“When we had a meeting with the municipal manager, he called officials and asked them about this because, as a councillor, I have never seen this policy.
“He asked them (senior managers) where this policy is coming from, and they said there is no such policy, but they had a meeting some years ago, and they decided on this.
“It cannot be right that I pay for a cable stolen outside because that is municipality property and not the residents’ property.”
She said such a drastic decision cannot be implemented if it had not been taken by the council.
“Who gives these managers the authority to inform us that residents must pay for these expenses without consulting the council? We as councillors have to face the communities, not them.
“Some of those who were made to pay were pensioners, while no one is sitting with R3,000.”
She said it was not clear how many residents ended up paying, but she said the municipality should refund them.
She said when they asked Mndebele and the managers to arrange a refund for residents, “we did not get an answer”.
“Residents should 100% pursue refunds,” she said.
Msunduzi Association of Residents, Ratepayers and Civics (MARRC) Chairperson, Anthony Waldhausen, said residents were given incorrect information, which he said Mndebele denied the existence of a policy to back it.
“There was one case where a person made contact with me, and they also reported on the MARRC’s Facebook page.
“This was referred to the municipal manager, who said there was no policy for residents to pay for that. For residents to pay was illegal,” said Waldhausen.
Municipality spokesperson Ntobeko Ngcobo has not responded at the time of publication.
bongani.hans@inl.co.za