Randpark Ridge couple goes 9 days without electricity because they would not pay a bribe

A Randpark Ridge couple had their electricity cut off for nine days because they would not pay an incorrect R50 000 charge on their water bill. Furthermore, a Joburg Water contractor said he would remove this mistake for a bribe, and they feel if they had given in to this they would have had the matter sorted out much faster.

Matthew and Debby Dyball saw their monthly invoice increase ten-fold after a water meter leaked outside their property in February. These meters are the responsibility of Joburg Water, who told the couple they were not allowed to have a private plumber do the repair.

Nevertheless, when the entity’s repair team arrived four days later they demanded R1 000 for the work, which the couple gave in to though there was no receipt and they knew it should have been done for free. After the R50 000 bill appeared in March, the couple put their foot down and went the legal and correct route, phoning, emailing and visiting the city’s Region C office to rectify the error.

This has taken months, and all the while the same Joburg Water contractor who demanded the earlier bribe said he would sort the bill out in exchange for a ‘Coca-Cola’.

“We still have the incorrect fee on our invoice and I do not know how long it will take to sort it out, but Joburg Water and the City have been so hard to contact – their phone just rings and rings and my email is still not responded to – it was only through the assistance of [Ward 134 councillor] Devon Steenkamp that we had our power returned at the end of May,” Debby said.

Her husband said even though he had been to the Region C offices a few times already, the city gave no indication they would follow up on the contractor who elicited the bribe and asked for another.

“It feels like they do not want to do their job, so this encourages you to just buy the coke for the guy,” Matthew said. “Even when the city employees came to turn our power on and I retold them the story, they said it would have all been resolved by now if I bought the coke.”

Steenkamp said this issue is not uncommon in his ward. “It also depends on the case as some are simply choosing to not pay their bills, and sometimes it is a contractor that does the error,” he said.

Questions were sent to Joburg Water spokesperson Nolwazi Dhlamini on May 29 as to whether Joburg Water ever charges a resident to replace a leaking water meter or for any other work; what should residents do when its employees or contractors ask for money for a job and whether this specific incident and the employee asking for money will be investigated.

No comment has been received by the time of being published.

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