Morero apologises for telling resident ‘you’re talking sh*t’

Joburg mayor Dada Morero has apologised for his “conduct” over the profanity-laden language he used during an exchange with a resident of Tshepisong in the west of the city on Thursday.

City officials had gone to the area to address electricity matters when Morero engaged with a resident who had allegedly called him a criminal.

“You are talking sh*t,” he said. “If you don’t respect others, we also have the capacity to show disrespect.”

I would like to profusely and unconditionally apologise for my utterances —  Mayor Dada Morero

According to Morero, emotions ran high between himself and one of the participants.

“I would like to profusely and unconditionally apologise for my utterances which were made this morning at the meeting. It should have not been done in that fashion.

“I take full responsibility. Over and above, I had a word or two with the resident concerned, and the meeting accepted my apology.”

Last month, City Power stated that it had taken the difficult decision to withdraw all technical restoration and maintenance services in the area due to continued acts of sabotage, widespread illegal connections, and the repeated unlawful reconnection of infrastructure that has not yet been commissioned.

Spokesperson Isaac Mangena said at the time that 97% of residents don’t pay for electricity and that City Power’s decision followed repeated incidents in which community members illegally reconnected newly installed pole-mounted transformers and threw wires onto electricity lines to deliberately trip the network.

During the meeting with residents on Thursday, City Power acting CEO Charles Tlouane said Tshepisong has approximately 12,000 registered prepaid customers, but only just over 200 of them are actively purchasing electricity, while 11,700 are classified as non-vending.

“This is a serious concern. One that is not sustainable,” he said.