It is worrisome that of late, more and more complaints have been surfacing against Ward Cllr Patel.
Allegations of Patel being rude to residents, especially those from the poorer section of the community and dealing in ‘fishy’ transactions whereby money has been involved, are amongst the many complaints received by the Laudium Sun.
In one of the latest complaints received, a cancer patient from Pearl Street, Laudium, Kantilal Bhima, pleaded to the Laudium Sun for help, after apparently receiving no assistance from the Tshwane Council or Cllr Patel. Kantilal’s plight is that he has been without electricity for six months, due to a mess-up or some scheme by the Council or its official, who allegedly installed a fake electricity prepaid meter box at his home, which was ‘organised’ by Patel.
Reenesh Bhima, the son of Kantilal, alleged to the Laudium Sun, “My father, Kantilal is 70 years old and a cancer patient. He has been living in complete darkness without electricity for the past six months, since February this year. Back in August 2022, officials from the City of Tshwane, together with Councillor Naeem Patel and Shakeel Bhaktawar, came to my dad’s house to install a prepaid electricity meter, as he was having problems with his electricity. They told him that he needed to pay a fine of R20,000. When he asked for an explanation, they gave vague excuses. Confused and pressured, we ended up paying the R20,000 to the Council in an account which they gave us. They then removed the old meter and installed the new prepaid one.”
Reenesh alleged further, “For a few months, the prepaid meter worked fine. But later, the same officials from the Council came and informed us that we were in arrears with our electricity payments. We explained to them that we were buying electricity units all the time and asked how could a prepaid meter be in arrears. They said that our payments weren’t going to the City of Tshwane despite the units being loaded on our meter, but the money was being diverted to another business account. We still don’t know whose account the money for the units was going into. We explained to them that we were using the meter that they installed and buying electricity as instructed by them. We had no idea what technical issue or possible fraud was taking place, but it seemed like something was going wrong within the City of Tshwane and possibly the Laudium Council office. This situation continued for over two years. Then, in February 2025, the same officials from the City of Tshwane came to my dad’s house and told us that they were going to remove the “ghost meter” because they weren’t receiving any funds from it. They removed the meter and since then, my father, who is seriously ill, has been living without any electricity. The saddest part is that my father lives alone. He’s 70, has cancer and my mother passed away in 2021. Anyone can imagine how hard this is for him. My father and I then went to Councillor Naeem Patel’s office several times, to complain about the ghost meter, as he was present when it was installed in 2022. But Naeem showed no concern. He told us he can’t help and asked us not to mention Shakeel, saying Shakeel left long ago. Just a month ago, I visited Naeem’s office again, but he was still unhelpful. He told us we need to look for alternatives. Coincidentally, shortly after that visit, we received a call from the City of Tshwane, telling us we now needed to pay another R30,000 to install a new meter, because according to them, the meter installed in 2022 was faulty. Honestly, that’s not our fault. The people in the Council are to be blamed. We suspect there’s a scheme going on between some individuals in the Council and the City of Tshwane, possibly with Naeem’s knowledge. We already paid R20,000 in 2022 and now they expect us to pay another R30,000? No way. It feels like we’re being taken advantage of. All we know is that my father, a cancer patient, cannot live without electricity. That’s why I’ve come to the Laudium Sun, hoping someone will finally help us find a solution.”
Kantilal claimed to the Laudium Sun, “I’m a cancer patient and I’m facing so many problems because I don’t have electricity. I went to the Council office with my son to ask for help, but Councillor Naeem Patel said he couldn’t do anything. We’re left with no options and I’m hoping that the Laudium Sun can help us. Every time officials from the City of Tshwane come to my house about the ghost meter that was installed in 2022, they demand money from us. I truly believe there’s a major issue happening between the Council office and the Tshwane Municipal workers. I survive on a pension and life is already very difficult. On top of that, they expect me to pay for something that’s not even my fault. The ghost meter was installed through Naeem Patel’s office and now we are being blamed and penalized. I’m sick, I’m old and I desperately need help. If we have leaders in our community who are supposed to help us, but either don’t want to or are choosing to ignore what’s happening, then what hope is there? Maybe they do know what to do, but choose not to act. Or, maybe all of this is part of a bigger scheme to fill politicians’ pockets. I honestly don’t know what kind of world we’re living in anymore. What we truly need in our community is a leader who stands for what’s right and speaks out against what’s wrong.”
Attempts to get a comment from Cllr Patel were unsuccessful.