Furious KwaZulu-Natal ratepayers are demanding answers. At least one resident has a bill of over R100,000. Courtesy #DStv403
DURBAN - Furious KwaZulu-Natal ratepayers are demanding answers
Residents living in the Msunduzi and eThekwini Municipalities say they have been billed excessively high amounts for electricity, without any explanation.
Pietermaritzburg resident, Feroz Rassol, wants the Msunduzi billing system scrapped.
Rassol says the municipality has been charging him based on estimates, failing to reconcile his account.
This is affecting his pocket.
"Eventually when they have to go back and reconcile this account it’s going to hurt them," Rassol said.
"It’s totally against the by-laws, for four-years you are estimating? But what power do we have, what can I do, I can’t do anything I just have to sit here and pay it.”
Rassol says the municipality is also illegally billing him for another property he had asked to be disconnected and now, he's seeking legal action.
“The bills keep on going, I even went in personally again to fill another disconnection form," he said.
Residents of Mbali Township, in Pietermaritzburg, are also angry.
A 79-year-old woman who lives alone has been slapped with a bill of over R100,000.
“How am I going to pay? Do I have to use the money that the government is giving me to pay off this debt?" asked Msunduzi resident, Margaret Radebe.
"I can’t pay this debt. I’m a pensioner, what am I supposed to eat?”
The problem seems widespread.
A resident from Reservoir Hills in Durban, says her bill has tripled in just one year.
Earlier this month, during a visit to the Msunduzi Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal Cooperative Governance MEC Sipho Hlomuka, said government is surveying the progress and dealing with the billing challenges.
