JOHN Petrelis, a well-known Jeffreys Bay businessman, was seen this week standing in front of the Jeffreys Bay municipal complex with a poster round his neck which displayed the words \u201cDon\u2019t let Kouga Municipality bully you and take your money unlawfully. Talk to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On being approached he revealed that he had been in the country which had been his home since he came here 57 years ago. He is a local boat builder and owner of apartments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His battle with the municipality seems to have started when problems with tenants were experienced a couple of years ago. They did not settle their electricity accounts which had been opened in their names. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The businesses changed hands, but the accounts were not transferred to the new owners. Many of the accounts were in arrears without Petrelis\u2019 knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to him the accounts continued to rise, without Kouga Municipality suspending the electricity supply. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the owners were later supplied with individual electricity meters they had to buy prepaid electricity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The municipality then either blocked the meters, preventing the businesses from using electricity, or they deducted money from the prepaid account, forcing the businessmen to pay for someone else\u2019s debt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Petrelis says, \u201cThe municipality started bullying me to pay accounts that were not in my name. I had at no stage signed any agreement with them to be responsible for paying other people\u2019s accounts. They also threatened me, saying that if I were to sell the building, they would not give me a clearance certific<\/span>ate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to him, he went to court twice, and the municipality was ordered not to interfere with the businessman\u2019s meters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He wants to know why the municipality did not cut off electricity supply after the first month of non-payment. It his is opinion that there would not have been any arrear accounts if the municipality had acted timeously by suspending the supply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Petrelis says he would like to see members of the public with the same problems to step forward, so that the matter can be discussed and resolved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No comment could be obtained from the municipality at the time of going to print.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" JOHN Petrelis, a well-known Jeffreys Bay businessman, was seen this week standing in front of the Jeffreys Bay municipal complex with a poster round his neck which displayed the words \u201cDon\u2019t let Kouga Municipality bully you and take your money 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