The City of Johannesburg has pledged to resolve the billing crisis plaguing residents by October, as it comes under scrutiny from top-level watchdogs.
Both the Public Protector and the recently-formed National Consumer Council (NCC) are intervening to solve the billing crisis, which has affected about 80 000 citizens and businesses in SA's economic hub for several months.
Meanwhile, the city has declared a moratorium on service cut-offs resulting from inaccurate bills that have not been resolved for three months or longer.
It has also suspended its debt collection processes, which many residents described as intimidating and unfair.
Residents have been complaining about inflated bills, a lack of response from the call centre, estimated consumption, and unfair disconnections since the city started implementing SAP at the end of 2009. The crisis led to a slew of press reports, a protest march outside Thuso House - billing central - and growing civil action.
Yesterday, a last-minute press conference was called by Gauteng MEC for local government and housing Humphrey Mmemezi and Public Protector advocate Thuli Madonsela. They assured the public that the issue would be fixed in six months.
Taken to task
Meanwhile, the NCC is also intervening in a bid to get the problem sorted out once and for all. Jerry Modiba, a manager in the NCC's complaints division, says the consumer protection unit wants to get to the bottom of the problem.
The NCC came into being on 1 April when the Consumer Protection Act came into effect, and has sought out residents who had issues with their bills, as many citizens aren't aware of the office's existence, says Modiba. He explains that the commission's mandate allows it to proactively step in and take action and not just “sit and wait”.
Modiba says the NCC will meet with complainants next week to gain a full understanding of the situation, and will then confer with city officials in a bid to resolve the issue. Complaints around erroneous bills are one of the biggest problems the NCC is dealing with, he adds.
The commission has received about 35 complaints pertaining to unresolved issues with the city's billing system, says Modiba. However, this does not indicate the true extent of the problem, and the NCC views the complaints as symptomatic of a larger issue, he comments.
The Public Protector's office has received around 263 complaints from residents, of which 55 had been sorted out in three days, says Madonsela. She reportedly told media the office would launch a forensic investigation into why the city's systems failed.
Yesterday, Mmemezi said 35 535 of the 60 000 queries lodged since the problem started have been resolved. “The city will work around the clock to resolve all outstanding queries.”
Too little, too late?
However, the Joburg Advocacy Group (JAG) says the number of problems mount every day. Founding member Lee Cahill notes that she receives at least 20 queries every day for about 10 days after each billing cycle.
Among these are residents complaining they have been billed for R6 million, R1.7 million, and R45 000, says Cahill. She adds residents also complain about interest being charged on erroneous amounts, despite these charges being reversed. “It's just a nightmare.”
Cahill argues that, if government was not under such enormous pressure, “action wouldn't have been taken”.
JAG has also lodged complaints with the Public Protector's office on behalf of Johannesburg residents. She says, while the interventions are only the result of massive pressure, action is welcome.
Madonsela says the “key to the eradication of this problem is the prompt response to all queries received”. New Joburg billing head Gerald Dumas, who was recently handed the task of resolving the problem, told her “the SAP system used by the city has significantly improved the billing problem”.
Implementation issues
However, the billing crisis is the result of problems with the post-implementation phase of project Phakama. The R580 million system aimed to move the city's disparate and legacy systems onto SAP in a bid to improve customer service and provide account traceability.
Johannesburg started implementing SAP in the western regions at the end of 2009, and completed the project in the middle of last year. However, residents have been complaining of inflated bills and erroneous accounts since implementation started.
Outgoing mayor Amos Masondo previously said the problem was due to issues with the interface between SAP and some departments, as well as staff negligence, which resulted in inexpiable bills being sent out. He said the problem was not a crisis as only about 8% of the city's million customers were affected by glitches.
Masondo also indicated the problem could take up to two years to fix, sparking outrage among the official opposition and civil society.
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