Gauteng residents are outraged by the high electricity and water bills they’ve received in recent months.
Many say they have been double-billed, or probably incorrectly billed for more water and electricity than used.
The City of Johannesburg admits there was a glitch in the system, but denies people were incorrectly billed.
Jolidee Matongo who is the Finance MMC for the City of Johannesburg said there is no double bill.
Matongo said:
“What happened was the July bill has been delayed. We approved the budget in the council on 9 July which is an anomaly, it has never happened before.”
Here is an extended statement from Matongo:
“The budget has to be approved before 1 July each financial year. So the budget was approved on 9 July which means the new tariffs of the new financial year would not have been loaded in the system. The system would have been closed up to around about 12 [July]. So we couldn’t generate bills as per normal because to generate a bill you need rates and taxes figures loaded in the system.”
The problem has been compounded as some municipal services including meter readings have been disrupted due to the coronavirus pandemic.
ICYMI: Customers are encouraged to use online platforms to solve their municipal queries 👇🏿 #JoburgServices #COVID19 ^GZ pic.twitter.com/7aB4FgFFNp
— City of Joburg (@CityofJoburgZA) July 31, 2020
