Mbombela residents up in arms about exorbitant increases in electricity bills

The fact that many are not receiving their full salaries, while others have not received salaries at all, adds to the pressure that many ratepayers are already experiencing.

Thea Rix, administrator of the Mbombela Electricity & Water Information Facebook group, said she has been inundated with complaints about high electricity bills. The number of complaints has skyrocketed in the past month, she said.

Lowvelder has also received many emails from readers desperate for help.

Dorothy McDonald, a 77-year-old widow who stays in Steiltes, said her latest electricity bill was R1 688,79, up from R928,76 the previous month.

“I lost my husband 18 months ago and have since been living alone. How can a person living alone use this amount of electricity? I use cold water to do my weekly laundry and I do not use the geyser except for the washing of dishes and a daily bath. My domestic worker, who normally works for me twice a week, has not been at work since the lockdown started almost eight weeks ago,” she said.

Lizelle Groenewald said her electricity bill for March was R3 081, up from R2 920 in February. In April the amount increased even further to R4 398. “This is impossible. It is not even winter yet,” she said.

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Kanébo van der Vyver of Magisha Guest House said the establishment has been closed since the lockdown started.

“We have no guests and I am in KwaZulu-Natal. There are four adults and two babies staying at the guest house during the lockdown. This month our electricity bill was R6 000, which is higher than when we have a house full of people with air conditioners and geysers being used. They are stealing from us,” she said.

Another Mbombela resident, Johann van Zyl, said he is tired of being exploited.

“I live off a small annuity and two houses that I rent out. Where I normally paid about R6 000 per month, my latest bill is R10 700. This is theft. My tenants cannot afford to pay these enormous amounts and then I have to make a plan. I am going to use the last of my savings to get off the grid,” he said.

Joseph Ngala, spokesperson for the Mbombela municipality, said they have received some queries from customers about electricity bills that they claim are too high.

“People must remember that with the winter months approaching, electricity consumption will rise and this year it will be exacerbated by the fact that people are at home during lockdown,” he said.

“We are fully aware of the hardships everyone has to endure due to Covid-19 and the resultant lockdown, but we cannot have a blanket approach. Each case will have to be treated on merit.

“The sad reality is that the City is expected to continue delivering services that also come at a cost, and that is why we also expect our customers to continue paying for such services. Of course, those that have challenges will enter into payment arrangements, but we cannot commit to payment holidays. The very services we are providing are at risk if we do that,” he said.

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According to Linda Grimbeek, chief operating officer of Kruger Lowveld Chamber of Business and Tourism, she is especially concerned about businesses and the challenges that they are facing.

“Municipalities have received additional funding, and we expect of them to use that money to grant payment holidays for businesses. If businesses do not have money, they will lay off people and they will not open their doors. Municipalities will lose the outstanding money and they will permanently lose a ratepayer.

“Employees who have been retrenched will also not be able to pay their municipal accounts. The local authority should consider the real implications of a tsunami of non-payment. Why do you think the banks and most landlords give payment holidays? It is to secure future payment. A dead business does not pay,” she said.

Ngala said the only amount the Mbombela municipality has received so far is R1,073 million, which is part of a disaster-relief fund run by the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta).

“I am not sure if we will receive more support, as nothing has been promised. We heard of money being set aside to assist municipalities, but nothing official has been received. We definitely need more assistance. The pandemic has only made our cash-flow situation worse. Municipalities across the country have been dealt a big blow by the pandemic,” he said.

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The cash-flow challenges the Mbombela municipality are experiencing was confirmed by the DA that said in a statement that Mpumalanga’s 21 municipalities are billed an alarming R1 billion of interest on their Eskom debt every year. This information was revealed in reports from the portfolio committees on human settlements and Cogta.

According to a release issued by National Treasury, the national government has made available more than R5 billion to assist municipalities in the 2019/20 financial year. This support is assisting municipalities to provide additional access to basic services during the lockdown and to sanitise public-transport facilities as the economy undergoes a phased reopening.

Lowvelders react

Lowvelder reached out to the community to find out if they had any problems with high water or electricity bills during the past months. Here is what they said:

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