No power for two weeks
"We thought it was load shedding, but the next morning it was still off," said a resident of Flo-Mia Flats after a power interruption at home.
On Wednesday, May 21 the lights and power went out at Flo-Mia Flats in the Central Business District. These flats consist of five floors of seven flats each, with the ground floor being used for commercial and business use.
According to many of the tenants, they have paid their rent, including their electricity and still the power remains off at the building.
“There is no hot water, no lights, we have had to throw away all our meat and all enquiries to the body corporate are met with the answer – we don’t have money.
“My sales have dropped and I have lost a lot of customers, all my iced foods have melted and I can’t operate the friers, not to mention the loss of perishable goods,” said a café owner.
“A single day without electricity is a loss, a week is just unacceptable,” added the shop owner.
Another business affected by the loss of electricity is a hair salon. “We need constant power, and this loss of electricity not only affects my work but also my personal life. I live in the flats above the salon,” added an employee at the salon.
The owner of the salon commented that they pay their rent each month, and that this is unfair to those that pay. They have pretty much had it with the poor service.
In a meeting held among the tenants last week, information came to light that the municipality had on a previous occasion conducted an inspection on the flats and made two key points as to why the electricity had been cut off.
The first was that five flats within Flo-Mia were illegally connecting electricity and the second factor was that the rates and taxes were not up to date.
A fine of R100 000 per illegally connected flat was issued to the Flo-Mia flats’ management, who are responsible for the payment.
According to an informant, the board wishes to identify the tenants responsible for illegal connections and make them liable for the payment of the fines.
Another meeting was scheduled for Tuesday, June 2 in which more information regarding the blackout would be released to the tenants.
The informant said some of the flat tenants owe large amounts of money to the municipality, and individuals who are paying their rates and taxes monthly are now being left in the dark due to the five illegal connections.
