Jack up the municipal billing service
NELSON Mandela is possibly the latest victim of a Johannesburg municipal billing disaster.
While Madiba remained in hospital, a notice was stuck to his Houghton home from the City of Johannesburg.
The pre-termination notice stated that Mandela’s electricity account was R6 468 in arrears, and warned the service would be suspended.
It is suspected that the notice was delivered to the wrong address, as it is addressed to 49 Fourth Street in Oaklands, while the Mandela house is in Houghton Estate.
Madiba should not be immune to erroneous billing. Action should indeed be taken if he doesn’t pay his bills on time.
A new mayor and municipal manager later, municipal billing problems in Johannesburg are still well-documented and neither office seems to have a solution.
Demand for payments on disputed accounts, incorrect amounts, change of property ownership, incorrect figures and notices on wrong properties have been a problem over the years.
During that time, the City of Johannesburg has continuously failed to address these problems. And the results have been cases such as Mandela’s.
The City of Johannesburg really needs to start getting its facts right with regards to billing.
