A Johannesburg resident who is unable to get his billing issues sorted out has laid a criminal charge against two top city officials as a last resort.
Last night, Linus Muller laid charges against mayor Amos Masondo and head of finance Parks Tau, at the Linden Police Station, for three alleged contraventions of the Municipal Systems Act.
This follows threats of a class action suit by Democratic Alliance (DA) ward councillor David Dewes, and calls from the official opposition for Masondo to resign, because of the billing crisis.
The city's billing system has been a headache for residents for several months, as citizens are plagued with grossly-inflated bills and threatened with disconnection if they do not pay up.
Despite mounting evidence that the billing system is in disarray, Masondo has denied there is a crisis. While admitting to limited problems with the system, Masondo has stated, of the million customers being billed, only 8% have raised queries.
The billing issue stems from teething problems with the post-implementation phase of project Phakama, the R580 million plan to move the city's disparate and legacy billing systems onto a SAP platform.
Masondo said the issue was being dealt with as the city had set up a dedicated task team to resolve the problems. He also said the city was not “heartless” and there were a number of initiatives under way to improve service delivery.
No help
Muller, a member of the Blairgowrie Residents' Association, says he has hit a brick wall in trying to get his, and several other complaints, sorted out.
As a result, Muller turned to the South African Police Service. He explains the city is in violation of the Municipal Systems Act, which stipulates that municipalities must have a “sound customer management system”, and that residents are entitled to “regular and accurate accounts” and prompt resolution of inaccurate bills.
The resident says he has received 50 complaints from citizens who have hugely inflated bills and have been threatened with electricity disconnections if they do not pay up. Muller has not received a bill since August, and believes the outstanding amount given to him by the Joburg Connect call centre is woefully inaccurate.
Muller laid the criminal charge against the city's top officials, after failing to elicit any response from them to three e-mailed complaints. He says, as a city resident, he is entitled to a prompt response from the officials.
ITWeb has confirmed that a charge was laid, and the docket has been transferred to the Hillbrow police station.
If this course of action fails to resolve the billing issues, Muller says he will start engaging with provincial and national government leaders, and will also lay charges against them if they do not respond to his issues within a reasonable amount of time.
Time for action
Joburg Advocacy Group (JAG) founding member Lee Cahill, who assisted Muller in formulating his charge, says the city is obliged, in terms of the Act, to deal with complaints and billing honestly. “If government can't assist us, we need to turn to the law.”
Johannesburg is in violation of the law, says Cahill, because the billing issue is not being resolved. She says residents are entitled to correct bills, and JAG will provide citizens with enough information to enable them to lay charges. “This is not a preferred course of action, it is a last resort.”
Cahill says Johannesburg residents are being intimidated into paying grossly inflated bills, as they are threatened with being cut off from vital services such as water and electricity. She says the advocacy group is using social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to mobilise residents into taking action.
“We are now advising people on how to take legal action,” says Cahill. “We can't potter around the edges while people are still receiving incorrect bills.”
Cahill has had billing problems since May last year, which she has unsuccessfully tried to resolve. She says payments have not been allocated to her account and, as a result, she is contemplating laying a charge of fraud against city officials.
The mayor's spokesman was not available to comment this morning, and attempts to get comment from other staff within the communications department were unsuccessful.
Stan Maphologela, deputy director of customer communications at the city, previously said a specialised task team has been set up to sort out billing issues.
The DA's Dewes has planned a protest march, which will take place tomorrow morning outside Thuso House, in Braamfontein.
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