The City of Johannesburg has been accused of illegally cutting off people's water and electricity when their accounts are in dispute, despite a court order preventing it from doing so.
A law firm is now preparing papers to have the court hold the city in contempt, because it is contravening a December order to follow the law when disconnecting people whose accounts are in arrears, but have been queried.
On 15 December, an out-of-court agreement was made an order of the South Gauteng High Court by consent. The order forces the city to issue correct bills, inform people if amounts are outstanding, and give 14 days' notice before cutting them off.
The city was also stopped from disconnecting residents' water or power when they have logged a genuine query and are paying an average amount each month.
Back to court
Maurice Crespi, managing partner at Schindlers, says the firm has been receiving an increasing number of instructions to assist consumers with unlawful disconnections. “Our clients are presently formulating contempt of court proceedings, which they intend to bring against the city and its representatives.”
Schindlers Attorneys senior associate Chantelle Gladwin says contempt of court papers, on various breaches of the order, are set to be lodged within the next few weeks.
Gladwin says the city has “come to the party to a certain degree” by reconnecting people when the law firm informs it of the breach. However, citizens are still being threatened with being cut off, despite their accounts being in dispute. “The real harm people suffer is that disconnections could be just around the corner.”
The city has been experiencing post-implementation problems with project Phakama, a more than R500 million plan to move its disparate systems onto an SAP platform. However, the move led to residents receiving grossly-inflated bills they battle to sort out.
No power
The Democratic Alliance alleges that the city is cutting off people's electricity when they have accounts that have been queried.
Councillor for the official opposition Linus Muller argues that the city is in breach of the court order as it does not always give residents 14 days' notice before disconnecting them.
The city did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but city manager Trevor Fowler launched a roadmap for revenue and billing enhancement, in January, to resolve the issue. “A number of technical glitches were experienced with the introduction of the new billing system, which impacted on customer service.”
Gladwin explains the December order was temporary, but is in place until the court considers the merits of an application the firm brought last year on behalf 13 entities, representing more than 200 000 residents, to stop the city disconnecting customers when bills are being queried.
The city has until the end of March to respond to the application, and has indicated it will defend it, says Gladwin. Consumers with billing problems can e-mail the firm.
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