HUNDREDS of tenants at one of East London’s landmark business centres, the Mdantsane Mall, yesterday closed the centre in a dispute over unpaid electricity bills.
The owners of the mall, the Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC), failed to reconnect electricity after a two-week black-out imposed by the Buffalo City Metro because of unpaid bills.
Tenants claimed they lost millions of rands in business during the busy Easter weekend when they couldn’t trade.
The ECDC is in debt to BCM so the council cut off electricity to the mall. This was confirmed by both the ECDC and the metro.
Yesterday morning tenants, led by their committee, closed the doors of the mall and went to the ECDC headquarters where they staged a sit-in and demanded answers.
Tenants’ chairman Vuyani Madikane said the corporation had sent them “from pillar to post” and was evading the truth.
“The way ECDC conducts its business is shocking. For the past two weeks they have been running away from the truth of what is happening and worse of all we couldn’t do business because they failed to pay the municipality.
“We’ve been here since this morning and the managers come in and out without giving us direction,” said Madikane.
He said they had been forced to stage a sit-in at the ECDC because of management’s “ignorance”.
“None of these officials are willing to take blame for the Mdantsane situation. The Mdantsane Mall is not given attention because poor black people trade there.
“ECDC’s core business is to develop the Eastern Cape’s people but this is not development,” said Madikane.
The ECDC could not comment on time yesterday as they were busy with tenants. Last week they distanced themselves from the power cut drama blaming tenants who failed to pay their monthly rentals.
They said the metro was supposed to collect the payments directly from the tenants despite tenants saying they do not have separate electricity meter boxes.
ECDC later said they were engaging with the metro for the installation of separate meters at the m all.
ECDC spokeswoman Nopasika Mxunyelwa said the corporation was up-to-date with its bill but BCM was invoking a by-law of 2008 that gives them the right to target the landlord to recover non-payments of electricity by tenants.
The municipality is owed R7.3-million.
By 3pm yesterday, Madikane and tenants were still in a meeting at the ECDC.
“We are not here to play as we have other things to do. We are still here and the ECDC has sent us to the municipality to negotiate for ourselves but how is that possible if they are the ones who have a contract with the municipality.
“This needs serious government intervention; the ECDC has failed,” said Madikane. —
Tenants close mall in bitter bill dispute
The owners of the mall, the Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC), failed to reconnect electricity after a two-week black-out imposed by the Buffalo City Metro because of unpaid bills.
Tenants claimed they lost millions of rands in business during the busy Easter weekend when they couldn’t trade.
The ECDC is in debt to BCM so the council cut off electricity to the mall. This was confirmed by both the ECDC and the metro.
Yesterday morning tenants, led by their committee, closed the doors of the mall and went to the ECDC headquarters where they staged a sit-in and demanded answers.
Tenants’ chairman Vuyani Madikane said the corporation had sent them “from pillar to post” and was evading the truth.
“The way ECDC conducts its business is shocking. For the past two weeks they have been running away from the truth of what is happening and worse of all we couldn’t do business because they failed to pay the municipality.
“We’ve been here since this morning and the managers come in and out without giving us direction,” said Madikane.
He said they had been forced to stage a sit-in at the ECDC because of management’s “ignorance”.
“None of these officials are willing to take blame for the Mdantsane situation. The Mdantsane Mall is not given attention because poor black people trade there.
“ECDC’s core business is to develop the Eastern Cape’s people but this is not development,” said Madikane.
The ECDC could not comment on time yesterday as they were busy with tenants. Last week they distanced themselves from the power cut drama blaming tenants who failed to pay their monthly rentals.
They said the metro was supposed to collect the payments directly from the tenants despite tenants saying they do not have separate electricity meter boxes.
ECDC later said they were engaging with the metro for the installation of separate meters at the m all.
ECDC spokeswoman Nopasika Mxunyelwa said the corporation was up-to-date with its bill but BCM was invoking a by-law of 2008 that gives them the right to target the landlord to recover non-payments of electricity by tenants.
The municipality is owed R7.3-million.
By 3pm yesterday, Madikane and tenants were still in a meeting at the ECDC.
“We are not here to play as we have other things to do. We are still here and the ECDC has sent us to the municipality to negotiate for ourselves but how is that possible if they are the ones who have a contract with the municipality.
“This needs serious government intervention; the ECDC has failed,” said Madikane. —
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