By Thomas Hartleb
Mandy Hill has dumped R1 500 worth of spoiled groceries on a council office floor.
An irate Hill, of Florida on the West Rand, dumped the food – spoiled over the weekend because her electricity was cut off – at the Jorissen Place account inquiries centre in Braamfontein, Johannesburg. Other ratepayers scattered, gagging from the smell.
This action, she said, was her desperate protest against the poor treatment she has been receiving from the City of Johannesburg since her electricity bill suddenly rocketed from R1 000 to R25 000.
| 'I feel like crying now… I don’t know what to do' |
Since receiving her exorbitant bill last year, Hill said she has been cut off on a regular basis and is forced to pay a R319,77 reconnection fee each time. She lodged a query with the director’s office, which confirmed her account. Hill, however, still has to pay off a R17 000 debt.
“I’m really pissed off,” she said on Monday after dumping the groceries.
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On Friday morning she spent three hours at Jorissen Place to have the problem rectified. After having signed an acknowledgement of debt, she paid 10 percent of the R17 000 and was told she would be reconnected by 11am. She complimented the legal department on their helpfulness.
They then sent an order to the reconnection department. But the order was never carried out and Hill was forced to spend the weekend without electricity. Her attempts to call the council’s helpline were also in vain.
The council’s manager for finance and communication, Sue Reddy, appeared eager to assist on Monday and took down Hill’s account details.
She said Hill’s bill had accumulated when she leased out her house for two years. The tenants had failed to pay their bills, and the electricity was never cut off.
By late on Monday night, Hill’s protest had not had the desired effect.
Despite receiving a telephone message confirming that her electricity had been reconnected, she and her family were still in the dark.
“I got home at 6.30pm and my electricity was still off. I am now going to McDonald’s to watch TV and buy my two kids something to eat,” a despondent Hill said.
“I’m actually quite upset. I feel like crying now … I don’t know what to do.”
- This article was originally published on page 0 of The Star on February 03, 2004
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