A Durban pensioner had to be hospitalised after she received two nasty surprises in the mail.
|||Durban - A Durban pensioner had to be hospitalised after she received two nasty surprises in the mail this month – two electricity accounts for amounts of R18 000 and R19 000.
The frail and “stressed” grandmother was admitted to hospital after she complained of heart palpitations.
Her grandchildren said figuring out how to settle the exorbitant bill had taken its toll on her health.
Thembekile Shange, 73, said she received the first letter two weeks ago, which indicated that she had an outstanding bill of R17 962.
While she was still in shock from the “ridiculous” amount, Shange, of Umlazi K-Section, said she was “lost for words” when the second bill was delivered earlier this week, reflecting a sum of R18 962 owed to the eThekwini municipality.
Municipal spokeswoman Priah Dass said the city was aware of the two bills. “The customer has been contacted and we have asked her to come to one of our customer service centres to discuss the matter with our officials,” she said.
When compared to her usual monthly bill, which she said ranged from R300 to R500, the amounts she allegedly owed had increased 36 times.
Her eldest grandson Sphamandla said Shange – a diabetic – fell ill soon after the second bill arrived. She had told the family that she needed to get the money before the city cut off her electricity.
She had to be rushed to Umlazi’s Prince Mshiyeni Hospital on Wednesday morning when she complained of heart palpitations.
“She’s never had any heart problems before,” he said.
“This thing has really affected her because she’s been running around inquiring how the bill increased by so much in just two months, but she hasn’t had much joy.”
Shange, who supports her grandchildren with her R1 100 grant, said she had been “running around like a headless chicken” for the past two weeks, trying to establish how she accumulated the amount.
Instead of getting answers, she was sent from pillar to post and told to pay the amount or have her service disconnected.
“I just don’t understand how my monthly bill can shoot up from R400 to this ridiculous amount in just a month,” she said, adding that she had never defaulted on payments.
“I’m struggling to make ends meet as it is, because I use my grant money to take care of all my grandchildren, so I don’t know where and how I will raise this money.”
Speaking soon after she was discharged from hospital, she said she had lived in her house for more than 15 years.
“I know that if you miss one month the city immediately disconnects your service. Why then would they just sit and not cut off mine if I supposedly have this huge debt?”
She said she used electricity sparingly.
“My grandkids are at school during the day so I usually listen to the radio and the TV is off.
“We don’t have a geyser so I’m really battling to understand how I could have accumulated this debt,” she said.
Independent on Saturday