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Cape Town – Eskom needs to respect its customers, a family living with no electricity for five months after being cut off over a tampered meter said on Monday.
Shorn Khumalo was responding to Fin24’s interview with Eskom spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe on Monday, after the power utility attempted to restore power to the Khayelitsha home after a preliminary report by the public protector ordered it to do so.
Phasiwe said Eskom tried to reconnect the house to the grid on Friday, but that the technicians were chased out of the house by Khumalo.
“He insulted and intimidated our team and told them to get out of the house,” said Phasiwe. “If they don’t want to be reconnected, there is nothing we can do.”
FULL STORY: Family suing Eskom ordered to pay 2 years' fees - Phasiwe
However, Khumalo said he will continue to chase Eskom workers out of his house until the power utility shows “simple business etiquette”.
“I will continue to chase Eskom out of our home for as long as they fail to practise simple business etiquette, such as arranging an appointment to reconnect our electricity,” he told Fin24.
“Please respect us.”
PR gimmick
“Eskom's response to Fin24 displays arrogance and no remorse towards our five months of suffering,” he said. “Mr Phasiwe's response is a PR gimmick failing to take responsibility for the parastatal's ill administration and misconduct.
“This case is not just about my family,” he said. “This case represents thousands of families with limited resources and education to challenge intimidating claws, bylaws and thorough practise by service providers.
“It's about families in disadvantaged communities who do not know how to stand up to this parastatal or any corporation abusing its power,” he said. “It's about human rights violation. It's about restoring my community and many other communities' dignity.
“I would love to see more and more families standing up to Eskom,” he said.
Eskom cut off electricity to the Khumalo’s house in Khayelitsha in February due to the meter box being tampered with. This was after the family reported the faulty meter. The Khumalo family was fined R12 000 for tampering with the meter.
Public Protector’s preliminary report
However, the public protector’s preliminary report on July 29 said Eskom should reverse the fee, immediately reconnect the household and calculate a fair repayment of fees owed by the Khumalos for the two years they did not pay for electricity.
The report says Eskom’s conduct constitutes maladministration, abuse of power and amounts to improper conduct.
“The major fault here was Eskom failing to attend to a faulty meter report made by Mrs Khumalo on September 4 2013,” said Shorn Khumalo, referring to his mother Simone Khumalo.
“Mrs Khumalo clearly indicated that her meter box was on free mode and was seeking assistance in order to prevent free use.
“Eskom sent a technician who came on the same day - midday, without prior arrangements or notification,” he said. “Due to our employment and study obligations, the technician found no one and closed the case without a follow up.
“On August 12 2016, Eskom repeated this incident of sending their people without arrangements, but this time calling Mrs Khumalo while at work and while they were outside our home.
“We have not heard from Eskom's management since the beginning of this case,” he said.
“The only persons who visited our home on Friday August 12 were their technicians who made a telephonic communique, informing Mrs Khumalo, while she was at work, that they were outside our home to reconnect.
“No prior or formal arrangements were made,” he said. “This is terrible business administration and ill etiquette. I'm of the view that Eskom's 'gesture' was due to negative media enquiries they were receiving on that day."
Why the sudden edge?
“If you read the Public Protector's report, one of the remedials recommends that Eskom reconnect the Khumalos on the day of receipt, which was July 29.
“Why the sudden edge two weeks later? For a case of this serious nature, it would have been civil of management to contact Mrs Khumalo and arrange a day of availability for reconnection in her presence.
“Couldn't they have reconnected the meter in her presence and educated her about its use as the PP report recommends, or were they going to do this telephonically too?”
Khumalo is seeking assistance from the South African Human Rights Commission to take the matter to court.
“We’ve approached the South African Human Rights Commission because I’m aware that Eskom has got a huge legal budget and that they probably will try and come guns blazing at my family, but we don’t have the resources to fight them,” he told EWN on Monday.
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