It was quite a shock when the staff at Daggafontein Epilepsy Centre realised that the lack of lights was not due to load shedding, but in fact the electricity that was disconnected last Monday (June 20).
For two days, the 92 frail care residents had to cope without electricity.
Susan Smit from the centre, says they had to put the residents to bed earlier than usual, as the staff was concerned about possible seizures due to stress.
The residents couldn’t bathe and allegedly felt very uncomfortable with the situation.
“It was quite a challenge to cook for them as the centre only has one gas stove,” she says.
Thinking it was load shedding, Smit says she only saw the notification of disconnection from the metro, in the postbox after noon on the Monday.
It was quite a shock as to the knowledge of centre management they are regular paid customers.
Spending most of Monday and Tuesday at the municipality, Smit finally managed to get assistance from the metro who reconnected the electricity at 6.15pm on Tuesday.
Madelein Eksteen, from Epilepsy SA, says although they have made payments, it allegedly only reflected on the Ekurhuleni Metro’s bank account, but never showed on their system that payment had been made.
“The discomfort of these frail care residents needs to be seen in a serious light as it was quite a traumatic experience for them,” she says.
Metro spokesman, Themba Gadebe, says the centre’s electricity was disconnected due to its electricity account being in arrears.
“A final notice was issued stating the outstanding amount payable and the time frame for the amount to be settled,” says Gadebe.
Themba says it is the responsibility of the centre’s management to be more active and manage its accounts efficiently and seek assistance if necessary.
“Customers have the right to approach council to seek assistance or make arrangements if the outstanding amount could not be paid,” he says.
