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News - Date: 05 December 2011
Well-known photographic business owner Sheth Babu, of Camera House, one of the oldest photographic shops in Thohoyandou, came out spitting fire last week.
This comes after what he claims to be sabotage to his business by the electricity utility, Eskom, which he claims shut off his electricity for no apparent reason. Babu (51) of Sibasa has been running his photographic business for the last 16 years in Thohoyandou and has been in a good working relationship with the electricity giant.
Babu said he was away on a business trip in Johannesburg about two weeks ago, when he received a call from his employees that his electricity had been suspended for non-payment. He stressed that he was aware that the was up to date with his payments. To add salt to injury, he was forced to pay an extra R600 to have his electricity reconnected.
“I have been a loyal customer and have had a good working relationship with Eskom since 1996. I never experienced problems with the company. They were always reasonable. The suspension of the electricity has affected me a lot in a business sense. It was suspended during peak hours of the business when people were bringing their work for processing,” he said.
He said he lost thousands of rands worth of business as many had to go to other shops when they found the shop in darkness.
He said he started experiencing problems in 2010 when the company started estimating their electricity consumption in a wrong way. “All along they were doing their job properly and all these years I have been made to believe that they know the monthly consumption in our business. Sometimes it goes up and sometimes goes very low, even though we are using the same machinery and the same hours and days,” he said.
He said it was costing him a lot of money and affecting his business negatively.
He had complained several times and also wrote many e-mails to that effect. Each time he was told that his complaint would be attended to, but this never happened. “We are tired of having to deal with unprofessional people. The company should put its house in order, or otherwise we will always be on the losing end," said a fuming Babu.
Eskom Thohoyandou spokesperson Mr Thiofhi Ratshitanga said it was difficult to say what had happened, as he had not visited the office. He invited the businessman to visit their office, where he will get clarity.
He encouraged all who have problems with their accounts to visit their offices and find out their account history, which will shed light on how they are charged.
Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019. He currently writes on a freelance basis, covering human rights issues, court news and entertainment.
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