/ MEDIA STATEMENT / The content on this page is not written by Polity.org.za, but is supplied by third parties. This content does not constitute news reporting by Polity.org.za.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is appalled by the bullying tactics of the Mayor of Tswelopele Local Municipality, Cllr Kenalemang Phukuntsi, and the Municipal Manager, Matiro Mogopodi, aimed at residents of Hoopstad by cutting their electricity without any procedural measures.

The power to various households was cut on Friday, 14 January 2022, and residents were left facing a closed municipality over the weekend. Power cuts continued on Wednesday, 19 January 2022. This took place without any prior notice or procedures followed.

The municipality issued letters to the residents on the day of termination indicating that power has been cut due to "tampering with the electricity meters". Residents were served with notices that a replacement fee of in excess of R17 000 for the meter as well as arrears have to be paid before the power supply can be reconnected.

Indeed, where residents are found to have fraudulently tampered with electricity meters, the law must take its course. However, from photographs of some meters supplied to the DA, it is clear that these meters have not been accessed by the residents for extended periods and no such proof of tampering can be found.

This whilst the Municipality itself is at fault for the following reasons:

a) The contractor appointed to do the audit was not appointed by the council. There is currently no proof of his qualification or the criteria he uses to allege that a resident had tampered with the electricity meter.

b) Residents have not been granted the required 14 day period to lodge a dispute with the municipality or to take steps to protect themselves against the municipality's radical steps.

c) In 2010, the Constitutional Court confirmed that electricity is a basic service which the municipality is under an obligation to supply. The court determined that residents are entitled to procedural justice in that they must get sufficient prior notice to enable them to respond. The Electricity Act of 1987 further compels the municipality to give the consumer at least 14 days written notice.

The municipality must follow due process in taking any such actions. The current actions appear to be desperate attempts by the ANC administration in Tswelopele to raise funds in order to address the financial ruin caused by the ANC in recent years. The DA has appealed to the provincial Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs to urgently intervene in the matter.

The DA has also approached a legal representative to submit a letter to the municipality on behalf of the residents to insist that they desist from taking steps that are procedurally unsound and blatantly illegal. We cannot allow the ANC to proceed with their bully tactics against law abiding residents.

Issued by Vetriver Constituency Head & Member of Parlierment, George Michalakis