Residents living in Slovo Park Phase Two claim their electrical meters don’t allow them to use more than two electrical appliances at once.
Patrick Malinga, a resident, claims the electrical box voltage only allows them to make use of two electrical appliances.
“If the fridge and kettle are on, the voltage doesn’t allow us to use another electrical appliance,” he says.
As soon as the third appliance is switched on, it sets off the trip switch. Malinga claims their problems started when the Metro installed the new electrical meters in their homes.
“I am almost certain the electrical box is the reason why senior citizen Mooi Khoza’s house burned on Thursday,” he says.
The 62-year-old woman lost clothes, blankets and furniture during the fire. Malinga says the fire caused the kitchen and lounge windows to shatter.
The pensioner now needs help because her clothes, bed and curtains were burnt. The material of the lounge suite melted.
“We have had a lot of electrical problems in the past and suspect the fire was due to an electrical fault,” says Malinga.
Residents called for a meeting between them and the metro contractor, after the installation project was completed in March. The residents apparently informed the contractor about their electrical consumption concerns.
“Our electricity consumption is much higher now, which is not fair towards the residents who are mostly unemployed or earn a low income,” says Malinga.
He said he doesn’t understand that the contractor understood their concern at the time, and promised to report the matter to the metro but had not done so.
“However, to date, we have not had any feedback from the contractor or the metro,” says Malinga.
Khoza says people were generous and had donated clothes and blankets as most of her belongings in the house were destroyed. She said she was grateful for their generosity, but did not know how she was going to fix her house.
No comment was received from the metro at the time of publishing.
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