Five decades of love, happiness
BUSINESSMAN Pravesh Ganga breathed a sigh of relief after his exorbitant electricity bill was reduced by just more than R500 000, but maintains the outstanding amount is still questionable.
Ganga, of Phoenix, said he usually paid about R2 500 a month for electricity, but after the error in the billing system was reversed by the eThekwini Municipality the amount surprising spiked to R5 300.
The 44-year-old said he had not budgeted R2 800 extra for the increased amount and yet again feared his electricity would be disconnected.
Last month, POST highlighted the shock Ganga and his wife received when their bill reflected they owed the city a staggering R518 684.11, which, he said, was worth more than his house.
When he did not receive joy at the local rent office, he approached his local ward councillor, who made enquiries.
“But after the article appeared in POST, I received a call from a manager in the department, who said they would investigate.”
Ganga said the manager had explained that the department had changed to a different billing system and the high bill could be a result of the change.
“He told me he would get back to me. I waited and nothing happened but last week I received another bill that reflected I owed R5 300. There was no mention of the R518 684.11.”
Although relieved, Ganga said the new amount remained high.
“I cannot afford to pay the entire amount,” he said.
“I previously paid about R2 500 a month, which I had budgeted for. I am now waiting for an explanation on why my account still remains so high.”
Another frustrated resident, Glen Naicker, whom POST had interviewed six months ago after he was forced to sell his car to make payment toward his account, is living without electricity.
Naicker, 63, had been going back and forth to the municipality, trying to get answers on why he received a bill of R135 000.
He said although he could not afford the amount, he continued to pay his usual R3 000 per month.
Two months ago, he thought his problems had ended when his municipal bill stated he had received a rebate on the R135 000.
But as he read through the invoice, he noticed the electricity estimate of R27 000 was grossly higher than the norm and it needed to be paid immediately.
“I was horrified and the process of going back and forth to the municipal offices started again. I could not understand these estimated charges.”
Naicker, who lives in a three-bedroom house in Brookdale, Phoenix, with his wife, daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren, said he was told that if he could not pay the R27 000, he needed to make arrangements with the city to pay instalments.
“I refused to do that because if I made an arrangement, I would be charged interest and I would end up paying more than I owed.
“I am so fed-up,” said Naicker, who had asked the municipality to investigate.
The pensioner’s electricity has since been disconnected.
“I now have two generators and we do our cooking on an open fire.
“This was never our mistake, but we are paying for it. I thought I was getting help from the municipality, but we have been left in the dark.”
Chatsworth pensioner Morgan Naicker received a utility bill of R7 million earlier this year, and with the help of local councillor Ronnie Pillay the issue was resolved.
Naicker, 65, lives in a three-bedroom semi-duplex.
His water and electricity bill is normally between R2 800 and R3 900 a month.
“In October last year, I received my first bill of R5m and by the beginning of this year, it escalated to R7m. With the help of my councillor, we managed to get the municipality to investigate. Last month, the matter was resolved and my account fully credited.”
Although his issue has been resolved, the grandfather of six said it was a stressful period.
“At my age, I did so much of running around. It was not easy. I was under tremendous stress thinking my electricity and water would be cut off. It took the municipality almost nine months to sort my issue out.
“Initially, when my bill was printed, someone should have investigated as to why it was so high.”
Naicker said he feared this might happen again.
The head of revenue management at the municipality, Peet du Plessis, said the city processed a large number of bills every month.
“We deal with an excess of a million bills per month. The few that have deemed to be inaccurate could be as a result of meter reading challenges and in some instances, human error during the process of capturing readings,” said Du Plessis.
A number of factors, he added, determined the final amount charged.
These include property values, water and electricity meter readings and the various tariffs charged.
If the water consumption amount is exorbitant, customers can check if there is a possible water leak.
“Customers must check the reading on the actual meter against the reading on the bill, or check the estimated charges and consumption according to the previous bill.
“There is also a possibility of a water leak if the water consumption is high, and customers can conduct tests on their meters.” IT TOOK a while for a young Govindasamy Govender and his now wife, Kamla, to fall in love but they did and 50 years later, they have not looked back.
Sitting in their oThongathi (Tongaat) home, it is evident the pair care deeply for each other. Govindasamy, or Thumba as he is commonly referred to, tells the tale on how they met, while a timid Kamla listens intently.
“I worked at a board factory in Canelands, Verulam. One day, I told my colleague, Billy, that I wanted to find someone, so he said he would take me somewhere.
“That very same weekend, we ended up at Kamla’s house in Tongaat and well, the rest, as most other couples would say, is history,” said Thumba, now aged 71.
Kamla’s mother, he explained, was good friends with Billy’s mom.
“When we arrived, her mother was not at home. It was only her sister, Neela, and their grandmother.”
At this stage, Thumba laughs as he recalls how Kamla had run into her bedroom when she heard guests had arrived.
“She was very shy, not only on that day but every time I went there, she would run into her room and eventually I think her mother scolded her and told her to come out and speak to me because I would go around so often.”
Kamla, now 69, giggles as she too recalls that period.
“I would get shy,” she admitted.
The couple eventually started talking and while Thumba was at work in Canelands, they would write letters to each other. The couple eventually got engaged five months after meeting.
Three months later, on July 18, 1965, they tied the knot in a marquee outside Thumba’s home in Glendale.
About 700 guests attended their Tamil wedding.
Thumba wore a grey suit and Kamla a red Banaras sari. SIXTY years after completing matric at Clairwood High School, the all-boys Class of 1957 is arranging a reunion.
The school opened its doors in 1956, with V Naidu as principal and JS Gabriel as vice-principal.
Some of the educators then were Lesley Peters (biology), SM Pillay (history), HB Singh (geography), RR Maharaj (Latin), KS Naicker (mathematics), KL Reddy (English) and Devi Bughwan (English).
The Class of 1957 excelled in
Shortly after marrying, Thumba had to get back to work, in Canelands, while Kamla stayed in Glendale with her in-laws.
After a while, Kamla’s aunt, who worked at the Tongaat Group, spoke to her boss and secured Thumba a job.
The couple relocated to oThongathi in 1972.
Later, Thumba applied for a job at the municipality, where he was employed as a driver and supervisor until he retired in 2008 at the age of 65.
The couple had four children, Strini, Pooven, Shanti and Sushie.
They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with their children, five grandchildren, three great grandchildren and friends at their home in Flamingo Heights.
Kamla said after five decades, she was still a happy woman. school plays, debates, athletics, soccer, cricket, table tennis and netball. The first group of girls completed matric at Clairwood High in 1959 and among them was Judge Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, who served as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Pupils of the two 1957 matric classes, 10A and 10B, are requested to contact Yoganathan “Dada” Naidu, who was head prefect, at 031 904 6060 or 079 322 2224, to plan the historic get-together.