Beacon Bay pensioner Henry Lemke, 82, is no longer allowed to open his Buffalo City Metro (BCM) monthly bill in case it kills him.
A three-year battle to find clarity reached an ugly climax in December when, after three letters threatening to cut him off, Lemke’s blood-pressure spiked and he was hospitalised at a cost to his family of R12000.
His daughter, Odette Hall, said this was his second spell in hospital related to his distressing bills.
“He has a stressed heart, and is an old-school stickler for paying his bills. This has threatened his health, so we have told him to give the bills to us unopened.”
She and her brother Gary had been making large payments, even though they felt they were wrong, just to keep BCM off his back.
BCM spokesman Thandy Matebese was unable to respond to Daily Dispatch questions as after two days of trying he was still “waiting for the relevant department to respond”.
Hall showed the Dispatch bills, among them a heavy demand in January for R10501 under the incomprehensible explanation “TRANFER OF CREDIT” (sic).
Bills shown to the Dispatch reflect the following:
l On October 19 last year, a BCM cashier whose name is printed on the receipt, accepted R9000 from the Lemke family, but on November 18 last year BCM sent Lemke an urgent notice threatening to disconnect him. This payment was not picked up on the accounting system for 33 days and did not reflect on his November 20 bill;
lOn December 3 last year, another BCM cashier, whose name is also printed on the receipt, accepted R7050 from the Lemke family, but this too was not picked up and was not reflected in the December or January statement; and
lOn January 22 this year, his bill states twice that Lemke is in credit to the amount of R1290.93, but then it ends off demanding an incredulous R14358. The same bill states in the age analysis that Lemke owed “zero” from 30 to 90 days, and he is even credited with R540 for an “interim reversal” for 30.000kl of water.
Hall said: “My dad has been going every month to the Beacon Bay (metro offices) to pay his bills. He can barely walk, yet he manages with his walking stick.”
She said he was also being billed for water and electricity for amounts that could not possibly be true because his meters were covered in mud and bush.
She said the only BCM official who tried to help them was also hospitalised and now has a pacemaker fitted, like her dad.
She said they had no idea where to turn anymore. — mikel@dispatch.co.za
Doctor's orders: Don't open the bill
A three-year battle to find clarity reached an ugly climax in December when, after three letters threatening to cut him off, Lemke’s blood-pressure spiked and he was hospitalised at a cost to his family of R12000.
His daughter, Odette Hall, said this was his second spell in hospital related to his distressing bills.
“He has a stressed heart, and is an old-school stickler for paying his bills. This has threatened his health, so we have told him to give the bills to us unopened.”
She and her brother Gary had been making large payments, even though they felt they were wrong, just to keep BCM off his back.
BCM spokesman Thandy Matebese was unable to respond to Daily Dispatch questions as after two days of trying he was still “waiting for the relevant department to respond”.
Hall showed the Dispatch bills, among them a heavy demand in January for R10501 under the incomprehensible explanation “TRANFER OF CREDIT” (sic).
Bills shown to the Dispatch reflect the following:
l On October 19 last year, a BCM cashier whose name is printed on the receipt, accepted R9000 from the Lemke family, but on November 18 last year BCM sent Lemke an urgent notice threatening to disconnect him. This payment was not picked up on the accounting system for 33 days and did not reflect on his November 20 bill;
lOn December 3 last year, another BCM cashier, whose name is also printed on the receipt, accepted R7050 from the Lemke family, but this too was not picked up and was not reflected in the December or January statement; and
lOn January 22 this year, his bill states twice that Lemke is in credit to the amount of R1290.93, but then it ends off demanding an incredulous R14358. The same bill states in the age analysis that Lemke owed “zero” from 30 to 90 days, and he is even credited with R540 for an “interim reversal” for 30.000kl of water.
Hall said: “My dad has been going every month to the Beacon Bay (metro offices) to pay his bills. He can barely walk, yet he manages with his walking stick.”
She said he was also being billed for water and electricity for amounts that could not possibly be true because his meters were covered in mud and bush.
She said the only BCM official who tried to help them was also hospitalised and now has a pacemaker fitted, like her dad.
She said they had no idea where to turn anymore. — mikel@dispatch.co.za
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