Members of non-profit organisation, the KwaZulu-Natal Tenants and Homeless People’s Trust, have expressed anger over illegal evictions and disconnections of water and electricity by unscrupulous landlords and agents.
Speaking to the Springfield Weekly Gazette, the NPO’s administrator, 72-year-old Dawood Parag, said the landlords and their agents together with local authorities have gained total control of electricity and water supply. Parag said he works as a part-time car-guard as the cost of living is high and he cannot afford to pay for all his monthly expenses with his pension funds. He lives in a flat in Overport. He said landlords and agents should be probed for water and electricity hikes.To show their dissatisfaction over the illegal water and electricity disconnections, some disgruntled tenants had a peaceful protest on Sparks Road last week.
“We voted for politicians and not capitalist landlords, their agents and local authorities undermine and control the volume of water and electricity a tenant is entitled to. Our organisation has been actively campaigning these issues for many years. We, the poor masses and every tenant in our country are calling for a thorough investigation and we need to know how is it possible that when tenants buy electricity or water vouchers with his money, then the voucher is controlled by the local authorities in such a way that the voucher is debited to the landlord or the agent. The landlord then has a system of doctoring the meter to determine the volume of electricity or water supply the tenant must receive for their voucher,” said Parag. He added that this is a problem affecting millions of tenants in the country, especially the vulnerable people which include the unemployed, pensioners, disabled people, single parents and people who earn low incomes.“We are paying more in exorbitant service costs and receiving a lower volume of water and electricity. The misery caused by sudden disruption to electricity and water supply can be depressing. The unemployed, pensioners, elderly and sickly are deeply affected and our Constitution allows for protection of these groups,” he said. Parag added that the country needs to immediately amend legislation to place the vulnerable people, who are tenants, into a safety net by defining them as a red dot. “Every tenant must be able to buy their vouchers directly from the local authority on his name and the landlord must be excluded,” he said.
Speaking on the electricity and water supply, eThekwini Municipality spokesperson, Msawakhe Mayisela, said the indigent support applications are handled by the city’s Operation Sukuma Sakhe (OSS) office. “Revenue Management, Electricity and Water and Sanitation (EWS) departments process the indigent package once all required documents are approved and submitted by OSS. Once the OSS conducts home visits, they assist the applicants to complete the prescribed application form and approve it, the Revenue Management Unit records the indigent in the register, writes off historical debt and exempts rates for two years,” he said. He added that the Electricity Unit installs prepaid electricity meters, provide applicants with 150 kWh monthly tokens and update the indigent register. “All residential property with a market value of R230 000 and less, as assigned in the valuation roll or supplementary valuation roll, are recognised as indigent households for the purposes of relief and qualify for a 100% exemption from rates. The EWS installs a water meter and flow limiter, limiting water flow to 6kL a month,” he said.
