INWONERS Baagi Civic Movement plans to march to the City of Tshwane against alleged fraudulent billing of services.
Residents said they got letters of demand from various legal representatives and wondered if they were bogus or true summons from the city.
They said they tried to raise the matter with the city, but nothing has been done.
President of the movement, David Ratladi, said it’s high time Tshwane Mayor, Randal Williams, addressed the matter once and for all.
He urged residents to stop paying as no one knows if the money goes to the city or not.
“The challenge we have is that we get fraudulent billing. This has been going on for too long,” said Ratladi.
“We have resolved, as a movement, that we will march to the office of the Tshwane mayor because our elderly are the ones who suffer the most.”
He said Williams must intervene as residents were paying estimations and not the correct amounts.
During a meeting on Sunday, 26 June – attended by the residents from various sections in Mabopane – it was revealed that crime is also on the rise.
The residents said they had sacrificed sleep as they had to be up all night patrolling their kasis to guard against those who plan to steal electric cables.
Mahloko Mathabathe, from UX Section, said a lot of substations have been vandalised, causing electricity blackouts.
“We can’t sleep. We are asking for help from the police because we go out at midnight until the next day. This is dangerous for us because we don’t even know if these people who sabotage our substations are armed or not,” said Mahloko.
He said residents who didn’t have electricity recently were up in arms after they attempted to cause disruption in areas where there was power.
City of Tshwane spokesman Sipho Stuurman said: “We have employed several debt collection companies to recoup revenue that is owed to the city. Clients are welcome to come forward and make payment arrangements.”
