FEELING robbed by the local municipality after paying out of his own pocket to have an electricity fault fixed, a KwaMsane resident is hoping for some answers but none are forthcoming.
Earlier this month, KwaMsane’s electricity went down. After a few minutes, power had been restored to all areas except Ezifisweni.
‘We went the whole day on the Monday with no power, there was no explanation from the municipality and no attempts from the ward councillor to communicate with us,’ said Muzi Khumalo, a concerned resident.
The following morning, Khumalo met with the municipal electrician.
‘To my surprise, he knew about the matter and wasn’t doing anything about it,’ said Khumalo.
‘He told me he had inspected one of the poles that diverts power to Ezifisweni and found that the interphase power controllers (IPCs) were damaged.’
The electrician then informed Khumalo to take the issue to his ward councillor but allegedly said the residents should pay to fix the electrical fault themselves if they want it done.
‘Because we had already gone two days without electricity, we figured, let’s just buy these IPCs and have him fix it and we’ll deal with the municipality later, in terms of refunds and to have them explain the process and procedures in such events.’
Khumalo then bought the IPCs, took them to the electrician and even drove the electrician around to all the poles where the IPCs needed to be replaced.
The electricity was restored that day.
Khumalo may have helped rectify the immediate problem but the fact the fault had to be fixed this way poses serious questions.
‘Who do I talk to? I’m being refused this information. Was this legal?’ asked Khumalo.
Mtubatuba Municipality was contacted and promised to issue a statement but failed to do so.
