They have had enough.
Two residents have created a group resolution, by compiling a list of questions that can be filled in online, for residents, like them, who have problems with their municipal accounts and want it sorted out. They plan to then take it to Mogale City Local municipality’s office in the CBD.
This comes after Breaunanda residents Leon and Elrike Janse van Rensburg, had their power cut off numerous times despite their bills being paid up to date.
“We pay our bills every month, but due to the faulty billing system it apparently does not reflect,” Elrike told the News.
Since last year August, the family’s problems started. Now, almost once a week, they are given a notice by the municipality that their power will be cut off.
“Then like clockwork, they switch it off,” she said.
Along with the following bill, Elrike and Leon are also charged about a R1 000 fee “to turn the power back on”.
Now Leon has created the Mogale City Rate Payers online form for all residents who are faced with billing issues to add their voice to a list of rate payers that will take their issues to the municipality.
“We are fully aware that we will not solve this problem over night, but leaving it for later will make matters worse, and cause more damage. There is a process, and our intent is to solve it in a legal manner without any violence, but to strategically reduce the power base from which they operate,” Leon said.
Freedom Front Plus leader for the West Rand region, Amanda de Lange, has helped various residents like Leon and Elrike and said there are many more in the same situation.
“I have warned the municipality in Financial Committee meetings to either stay open longer or create a task team that deals solely with billing issues,” she said.
Since Mogale City Local Municipality’s new R50 million billing system was introduced in July, it is still not functional and municipal bills are still incorrect, consequently forcing the municipality to use two billing systems that do not correlate with one another. The municipality has implemented the new system, Limms, and planned on migrating from the old system, BIQ, because they used it without paying the owner any fees for the use thereof, the News reported in November last year.
BIQ owner Danie van Heerden agreed to let Mogale City keep the system until June 2016 so that they can sort out the technical difficulties Mogale has with the new billing system (Limms).
But De Lange is not confident that the system will be fully functional by June.
Read more:
Mogale City to cough up R15m for wrongful claim
Mogale accounts a R50 million mess
[VIDEO] Mogale using a new billing system
