TENANT’S NIGHTMARE

Madam,

Being a tenant these days is a nightmare, especially when there is no formal a legal lease agreement and, worse, if the accommodation is within a compound where the landlord resides, a challenge compounded by centralised water and electricity  meters. Aside from the inconvenience a tenant has to go through to produce proof of residence some landlords  are heartless and suck hard-earned money like parasites on the  poor tenants. At 6pm, right in the middle of the month, when everyone is living blissfully, having come to terms with the fact that there is no money, feeling a temporary sense of tranquility after paying, not all but some of the critical bills, including rent, during a hectic month end, the lights suddenly go off.

Outages

Sitting comfortably on the sofa in the sitting room and watching the news, after putting on the stove to cook rice and beans, his favourite comfort food after a long day at work, the tenant lingers for a few minutes in the dark, hoping it’s just one of the temporary power outages or loadshedding. He switches on his cellphone torch and starts counting the minutes, but after 30 minutes, it becomes clear that the problem is more serious than that. Living in a flat within a compound with a centralised electricity metre, he reluctantly goes to the main house where the metre is stationed, only to be told by one of the children of the landlord that there are no electricity units and that the landlord had instructed the child to ask the tenant to recharge the electricity metre.

While assimilating the bad news, on his way back to his flat, he sees the landlord alighting from his car with a bucket of KFC. Apparently, fully aware that the units were about to run out, he elected to remain in the dark and instead of buying electricity units, enjoy a finger licking candlelight dinner with his family, while expecting the tenant to buy electricity. This despite the fact that rent was fully paid.

Conversation

The landlord approaches the tenant and starts an unwelcome conversation about the high cost of electricity and water, admonishing the tenant about not doing enough to save both, specifically criticising him for cooking beans, which consume too much power and using clean water to flush the toilet. He advises him to harvest rainwater and wash blankets in the Mbabane River. The dumbfounded tenant manages to declare his broke status and returns to his flat, reluctant to engage the landlord about their original agreement that the rent covers both water and electricity expenses, because the last time he brought up the subject, the landlord read him the riot act; threatening to increase the rent or evict him and lease the flat to university students who have been nagging him about accommodation.  

Fortunately, knowing the behaviour of his landlord, the tenant has Plan B; a handigas stove, which the landlord had been nagging him about using for a long time. Resigned to the prevailing situation, the tenant finishes cooking his beans using the gas stove. Just when the tenant is beginning to enjoy his meal , the landlord, who is beginning to feel the inconvenience  of missing his favourite TV shows, comes  knocking at the door to ask him to check his MoMo credit status, to see if he can buy at least E10 units for the night.

Tenant

The tenant explains that, unfortunately he already has a pending MoMo loan and has not yet qualified to borrow from Eswatini Mobile. Thereafter, the tenant returns to his meal and retires for the night. Early in the morning, as the tenant turns on the gas stove to cook his own breakfast, the landlord comes knocking at the door to borrow the handigas stove for his children to boil  water and cook breakfast,  before going to school.   Having had enough of this landlord, the poor tenant makes up his mind to seek alternative accommodation. First in line when the bank opens, he applies for a loan, which is fortunately paid into his account on the very same day.

Unfortunately, searching a new flat within a convenient location takes time. He has to endure the unfavourable accommodation for a few more days. Just after recharging the electricity metre with a few units, the landlord becomes nice and friendly and all is good for the night, yet early in the morning, the landlord comes nocking at the door, brandishing a E8 000 water bill, informing the tenant that he has just received SMS notice for water disconnection to be executed on the very same day - the  last straw that broke  the camel’s back –  the rest is history.

T.Tembe          

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