Parliament has been asked to intervene in the ongoing dispute between national electricity supplier, Eskom and the residents of Soweto, in Gauteng, over electricity bills’ accuracy and the installation of pre-paid metres.
The matter was brought to Parliament through a petition by a group of pensioners who asked fellow resident and Member of Parliament, Mr Tshepo Mhlongo, to submit the petition on their behalf. This week the Portfolio Committees on Public Enterprises and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) started consultations with Eskom and the residents of Diepkloof in Soweto in an attempt to find a solution to the matter.
In the petition, the residents accuse Eskom of inaccurate billing and forcing the pre-paid metres on them – which they also don’t want.
In a meeting of the Portfolio Committee and Eskom, Mr Mhlongo said the main concerns of the pensioners and the rest of the Soweto residents, was about the lack of proper public participation before the installation of the new pre-paid metres, disputed electricity bills and social package (free electricity) for indigent people.
He said between 2014 and 2016 the community submitted three petitions to Parliament, demanding the intervention of the national legislature after their attempts to engage Eskom failed.
“One of the main concern was the lack of proper public participation, where it was not done properly, and the forceful installation of pre-paid metres,” said Mr Mhlongo.
After listening to both the petitioners and Eskom representatives, the Committee advised that Eskom must go back to the community for proper public consultations and educate the residents about the benefits of pre-paid electricity.
Committee Chairperson, Ms Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, said the purpose of the visit was to come up with a solution to the issues raised by the residents in the community.
“Eskom should develop a communication and public consultation strategy as soon as possible and also explain advantages of pre-paid electricity. The Committee will investigate the use of more than one electricity supplier in one community, and lack of uniformity in social packages (indigent people),” she said.
She said the electricity supplier should explain to the people the benefits of pre-paid electricity, that it was aimed at managing consumption, and will also prevent illegal connections which often result in fatalities.
“The economy is also losing billions of rands through illegal connections and electricity theft. I think the pre-paid metres will help address that and ease the debt for the residents and address the billing dispute under the current conventional system,” said the Committee Chairperson.
One of the pensioners, Mr Pat Moboa, said some of the petitioners owed Eskom amounts as high as R300 000 for electricity, bills whose accuracies they claim are questionable.
Eskom Senior Manager for Operations and Maintenance in Gauteng, Ms Daphne Mokoena, said billing for the conventional or post-use metres was based on estimates.
“The monthly bills are based on estimates for three months, depending on consumption patterns, we only conduct metre readings on the third month,” she said.
Committee member, Ms Natasha Mazzone, said the crux of the matter is that “we have a large community that does not understand how the pre-paid metres work, unhappy that they were not consulted and what is clear from the installation of these metres, indigent and pensioners are losing out on social benefits like free electricity”.
It has also emerged that Soweto residents owe Eskom about R8bn in unpaid electricity bills and the installation of pre-paid metres was expected to manage the debts as residents will only pay for what they owe – and not accumulate new debts. The community members are rejecting Eskom’s proposal that if they accept the pre-paid metres, their outstanding bills will be suspended for three years. They demand a complete write-off of their debts because the estimates were wrong.
The Portfolio Committees on Public Enterprises and CoGTA will continue engaging the residents and Eskom and hope to report back to the National Assembly with a solution to the dispute.
By Sakhile Mokoena
23 March 2017
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