The billing system of the City of Joburg in intact and functioning properly and there are only 7 000 outstanding billing queries.
So said city officials who have blamed tariff increases, that took effect in July last year, and an increase in water consumption by residents during lockdown.
Not so says the DA, which has filed a petition of 3 300 signatures calling for the city to urgently review all water and electricity accounts issued between June and August, 2020.
Patrick Atkinson, DA Joburg councillor for finance, said they have had numerous complaints from residents being overcharged on their water and electricity rates.
Complaints from residents range from inflated bills based on made-up estimated readings, meters that were stolen and not replaced, and most controversial, the fact tariffs ballooned way past the published increases – in some cases by more than 100%.
One resident reported receiving an electricity bill for over R150 000 when their regular monthly bill had only been R1 500, two pensioners were slapped with a water bill for R300 000, a family was given an estimate for using 140000 litres of water, while another was left responsible for R189 000 in water charges due to a leak which they couldn’t pick up because of incorrect estimates, said Atkinson.
The city, however, has dismissed as “misinformation” allegations that the municipality’s billing system was in a chaotic state and unable to generate accurate bills.
“The billing system’s efficiency is intact and it is currently functional and up to date. The system remained in working order even during the hard lockdown period during which the city’s meter readers could not physically go out to read water meters.
“As a result, a mass estimation of water consumption for the month of April 2020 for a number of residents was conducted. However, the city was able to obtain actual meter readings in May 2020 which assisted in making the correct adjustments on the June 2020 municipal accounts that were affected by the mass estimation,” said Kgamanyane Maphologela, director of communications.
The same process was followed during the period between June and August 2020 when new tariffs came into effect. At no point did the billing system seize to function as expected, he said.
“The city would like to assure ratepayers that the billing system is functional. It is currently able to generate, issue and manage bills as expected. The claim by a Joburg opposition party that billing has been in a chaotic state during the lockdown is not correct. The escalation in water and electricity charges, which the party referred to, can be attributed to a number of factors that include the newly-increased tariffs and an increased usage of water and electricity during the hard lockdown period whereby residents stayed home for a prolonged period,” he said.
In July, the Joburg council approved reduced tariff increases for water and electricity of 6.6% from a proposed 8.6% and 6.23% from 8.10%, respectively.
The city has more than 900 000 properties that range from residential, commercial office space and multi-purpose. The city issues bills in excess of 1.1 million municipal accounts every month and there are currently approximately 7 000 queries related to various services on the system.
Municipal account holders in financial distress are encouraged to contact the city’s Credit Control Department to make payment arrangements via email on [email protected]
The Star