Poor service delivery by new electricity service provider.

It is with dismay and disgust that I report on the poor service rendered by the newly appointed electricity service provider.

Randfontein Local Municipality didn’t make an overnight decision on the appointment and once again it shows how the ratepayers of Randfontein are being taken for granted. Why should the council make us suffer at the expense of the service provider?

From 1 to 4 January consumers were left stranded and couldn’t buy electricity anywhere. Places such as Spar, Checkers, FNB and the garages where we normally buy had no electricity.

Only on the morning of 4 January the council offices opened so we could buy electricity. To my dismay we noticed that the newly appointed service provider employee was busy on the system at our local office in Toekomsrus.

Frustrated consumers just looked on as we were kept waiting to buy electricity. On entering the office one already could feel the frustration among the rate payers for waiting so long. I voiced my frustration and disgust and said to the gentleman, “This poor service can’t be tolerated, and we just hope that we will not be confronted with similar poor service in future”.

To date (17 January) we still can’t buy electricity through telephone banking from our bank FNB because the service is forever busy with routine maintenance.

The Randfontein Local Municipality must stop making haphazard decisions when appointing service providers without thoroughly investigating and making 100 per cent sure that the services to be rendered would be “value for our money”, which is the motto of Randfontein.

Council services should be accessible to its consumers and consumers should not suffer at the expense of service providers. Randfontein council should not make decisions that could be detrimental to its consumers.

Yours in democracy.