READERS’ STORIES: Electricity Extortion Watch: ‘Nothing can compensate for the trauma’

More than 50 Johannesburg residents (and some further afield) responded to our call to share their often harrowing experiences with City Power and Eskom over the past week, and their stories are, let’s just say it, shocking.

In a few similar cases in different parts of Joburg and involving individuals clearly intent on sheer bribery, residents believed they may have been dealing with criminals posing as official City Power contractors.

One household was visited by men in branded vehicles who pushed to gain access to the property so they could “evaluate and audit” a prepaid electricity meter. When they were asked for a job card or proof of identity, the men were unwilling or unable to produce either. Instead, they threatened from beyond the gate to disconnect the house.

They were eventually persuaded to leave and return with ID, but never did. The resident believes they were perpetrating “a scam to gain admittance to the premises for purposes other than electrical compliance”.

In a similar but even more risible case, individuals claiming to be from City Power told a resident they were there to disconnect his residence because he had “not been buying enough electricity”. His only option? To pay a R16,000 “reconnection fee”. The resident refused and, despite arguing with him, the so-called contractors left and didn’t return.

Some of the many stories shared with us in this first week convey a sense of despair and even trauma caused by years of fighting fruitlessly for the basic human right to electricity. They are deeply troubling, as they reflect how ruinously self-defeating and damaging a corrupted system can be to a local society and its economy.

City Power issues are rendering entire buildings unlivable for months at a time, not just affecting their residents’ health, dignity and mental wellbeing, but risking possibly their only major asset – their property.

‘Threatened and harassed’

The following was shared by the trustee of a small, low-cost apartment complex. The submission has been edited for length and clarity.

(Throughout this series, Daily Maverick will deliberately refrain from naming sources to shield their identities and protect them and their properties from possible retaliation by City Power and Eskom contractors.)

“We have been told we are in debt of R27-million to City Power after being billed R1-million a month for a small complex of 21 apartments, whose monthly bills average between R4,000 and R8,000. We have also been illegally disconnected for seven months straight; threatened and harassed by subcontractors and had our main gate broken and our property damaged by metro police officers accompanying them.

We have women, children, babies and elderly people living in our complex, yet it took a year of enduring this harassment, intimidation, insults, pressure and disconnections, along with the proof of six years of meter readings, to refute the R1-million-a-month claim and to be finally left alone for a while. This matter goes back to 2014, and has got progressively worse since then. But our case is still not resolved: Legal processes cost too much, and besides, undoing interdicts and disconnections won’t get City Power or the City of Johannesburg to explain what has happened [in our case].

This has made us insolvent in terms of our accounting, due to arrears we didn’t cause and aren’t in a position to pay back. Nothing can compensate for the trauma we have all had to endure in trying to negotiate with City Power.”

Other stories are simply enraging in their cruelty:

“We have spent more than seven days without power in Malvern [beginning on 18 June]. A guy came to our house and said if we give him R1,200, he would connect us. But because it’s so close to the end of the month, no one has money. So he left without reconnecting us. We live in one of the poorest neighbourhoods and we pay dearly [for power]. To be treated like this is unacceptable.”

Others are deeply concerning, as they highlight the real dangers of relying on a grid that is not only under constant strain due to historical and infrastructural constraints, but that is allegedly being tinkered with, switched off and on again and manipulated by corrupt subcontractors and technicians eliciting bribes, and terrorising residents in the process.

A community in Bellavista wrote to City Power earlier this year about an urgent hazard, and shared their report with Daily Maverick:

“For weeks, we have experienced repeated power failures, including complete outages and dangerously low-voltage supply to our home. Numerous technicians have been dispatched to investigate. While they have tested the main box on the road as well as the distribution box supplying our property, the underlying issue has not been resolved.

We are now experiencing electric shocks when touching taps in both the bathroom and kitchen, which presents a serious safety hazard. We have been unable to bathe safely due to the risk of electrocution. Additionally, we were informed by technicians that there is no neutral feed to the house, which they advised is extremely dangerous. We were instructed to unplug all electrical appliances, including microwaves and televisions, as a precaution.

As a direct result of the ongoing power instability, we have had to discard the entire contents of our deep freezer, resulting in significant financial loss. A neighbouring property owner has experienced similar losses. This situation has caused considerable inconvenience, frustration and financial strain for several residents in our area.

It is evident that the current technicians attending the callouts have been unable to identify or resolve the root cause of the problem... Given the number of repeated callouts without resolution, we must ask how much longer residents are expected to endure this dangerous and unacceptable situation.”

City Power ‘recognises the serious distress’

City Power has been made aware that Daily Maverick is running this reader-led investigation, and its spokesperson, Isaac Mangena, issued a statement following the previous instalment: “We have noted increasing reports over the past several days describing repeated incidents where individuals unlawfully enter private properties, present fraudulent identification and demand cash payments in order to prevent or reverse disconnections. In some instances, these individuals falsely claim to be municipal officials or authorised contractors acting on behalf of municipal entities.

“City Power fully recognises the serious distress this criminal activity causes to households and businesses, particularly where residents feel coerced, intimidated or unsafe within their own homes.

“Operations are being intensified to dismantle organised networks involved in impersonation, illegal disconnections and bribery. Internally, City Power is tightening controls over contractor access cards, strengthening on-site verification protocols and expanding investigations into the misuse of municipal identification. This work is further supported through closer cooperation with community informants and targeted monitoring in areas where impersonation incidents are most frequently reported.”

In May, Mangena was accused of furthering a dirty tricks campaign following the circulation of a report by the law firm Khumalo Masondo Attorneys, which alleged that he had interfered in a solar tender for the Joburg Fresh Food Market, according to News24.

“These events appear to be part of vicious factional battles that have wracked City Power,” wrote News24 investigative journalist Kyle Cowan. Mangena denied the allegations.

Landlords are complicit

Next week we will focus on your reports about prepaid meters, which appear to be an added source of grief. Please share your prepaid woes with us here or at the end of this article, along with any other experiences of extortion, intimidation or bribery at the hands of City Power or Eskom service providers, and let us know if you have evidence to provide so we can reach out to you directly. Your identity and information will not be divulged.

Finally, here is a story from a popular eatery in the west of Joburg, which highlights the temptation for dirty landlords to wriggle out of their responsibilities to tenants by working in cahoots with moonlighting City Power technicians.

This reader submission has been edited to protect the identity of the business and its owners.

“We used to trade on the corner of a busy street. When we signed the lease we didn’t know that the landlord’s DB board was non-compliant. It would trip the power of the entire corner multiple times a day, including the traffic light.

“When we complained, the landlord would send someone from City Power to come and take a look, bypassing the regular channels that the rest of us have to follow by logging a call. When the technician would arrive he would tell us that he was the landlord’s guy and had been instructed by him not to leave until the power is back on.

“When we tried to renew our lease we asked for the electricity to be brought up to legal compliance, but the landlord refused and we had to relocate, which cost us nearly R1-million. It turns out our new landlord owes the City of Johannesburg R500,000, but always seems to evade disconnection as well.

“We employ and train 20 people and pay our rent on time, but it is simply impossible to accumulate any kind of wealth if landlords have this much power. They are all enabled by municipality workers who are their private employees.”DM