Huge power bills shock residents

Hundreds of residents including indigents in Buffalo City have been cut off from the power grid due to unpaid electricity bills.

To add insult to injury, residents who live in King William’s Town, Berlin and Mdantsane were forced to travel to East London to resolve the situation because the metro’s billing system is faulty in those areas.

Some residents have had to queue in the East London office from Tuesday to enquire as to why they were cut off.

To their surprise, they were told that their electricity had been disconnected and had to pay huge sums of money, varying from R8000 to R56000 each to have it reconnected.

The Daily Dispatch has seen some of the residents’ statements.

Unemployed Elize Solomon, who lives in her late grandfather’s house with her siblings in Vergenoeg, had queued at BCM’s indigent office since Tuesday morning and were only told on Wednesday that they owed R13000.

“We do not know how we are expected to pay off this amount,” she said.

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