Municipal services cut amid billing confusion

JOBURG residents have been receiving incorrect and duplicate municipal accounts, and people’s services have been disconnected after the revenue department’s computer system was allegedly sabotaged.

The Star reported last week that mayor Herman Mashaba confirmed there was a problem with the delivery of 412 000 bills and with the accuracy of 97 000 other accounts.

He said he suspected the system was tampered with because the city had never produced an error of that magnitude before.

The Star has received numerous complaints from frustrated residents who have paid but fear their services would be cut because of double billing.

The City of Joburg has refused to put a moratorium on cut-offs, saying it knew which customers had been affected and their services wouldn’t be stopped.

However, that wasn’t the experience of Moira Wingate from Interciti Real Estate.

She said her clients were receiving incorrect accounts and the services of one of the buildings she managed had been disconnected.

Wingate’s woes started with the new regionalisation of the billing system and, as per the city’s request to customers to set payment dates, she sent an instruction to the city that the invoice date be the last day of the month.

She received a response confirming that the email had been received and actioned.

However, last week she received many accounts dated May 11, stating that payment was due on May 15, even though payments had been made this month. She added that funds wouldn’t be available until June 10 to 15.

“Does this mean that services will be disconnected to all the premises? For the first time in eight years, electricity and rates charges have been omitted from an account for the past two months, so we have paid slightly above average,” Wingate said.

“Yesterday, City Power disconnected the electricity supply to one of our buildings without prior notice despite its being paid in full.

“To add insult to injury, the call centre has not been contactable since last week. We made an arrangement with a staff member to work late to try to phone the city after hours, but this too did not work.”

Her agency has paid 27 accounts by estimating the charges.

“It appears that the only relief available to consumers is an urgent application in the high court,” she added.

The city announced last week that it was experiencing technical challenges with sending email customer statements, as well as with its e-services – the online viewing statements system.

Spokesperson Kgamanyane Maphologela said technicians were working around the clock to rectify the situation.

“The issue has affected only a small population of our residents as the matter has been identified in good time.”

He said customers who hadn’t received their accounts should either pay the same amount as the previous month or call Joburg Connect at 0860 Joburg (562 874) to enquire about how much they owe. If the customer required a copy of their account, they could visit one of the nearest customer service centres or phone the call centre.

Customers could pay their accounts using thirdparty payment methods. People can pay using:

EasyPay, facilitating a quick-payment option at many shops including Pick n Pay and Shoprite Checkers Debit orders Direct deposits at major banks ATMs Internet and cellphone banking Post Office

The call centre hasn’t been contactable