ANC says prepaid meters to stay
THE ANC in Gauteng says it will not bow down to pressure from residents against the installation of electricity prepaid meters in their homes.
Provincial secretary Hope Papo yesterday said there was no way the ANC could agree to the scrapping of prepaid meters.
He said the ANC had been through situations in which the public demanded the reinstatement of the death penalty on the eve of elections, but still emerged victorious.
“… should we have listened to them?” Papo asked.
“There is no way we can evaluate the consumption of electricity without a meter. If we can be told how else to determine consumption by the people who can afford [it], then we can look at it. We believe [the use of meters] is a reasonable way to determine how much people owe.”
He also lamented people wanting free electricity.
“The ANC is a very sensitive organisation, but it has never accepted proposals that are incorrect. We are not a populist organisation.
“When people make proposals that are not viable and are unworkable, how are we going to implement them?”
Residents, particularly those in Soweto, who owe Eskom R4-billion in unpaid bills, must also forget about a flat rate.
They claim they are now paying more than they used to pay before meters were installed.
“There are people in Soweto who pay, but those who don’t pay disadvantage those who do.”
Papo also said the province had started doing assessments of municipalities ahead of local government elections.
He said the overall assessment on various departments would give an indication if premier David Makhura’s cabinet needed to be changed.