A significant number of property owners who use municipal services are not on the City of Johannesburg’s billing service records.
Executive Mayor of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba said a survey done by the City’s independent consultants, assisting in the resolution of the infamous billing crisis, found that 1 166 households were not registered on the City’s billing system.
“Property owners who have no queries on their accounts, who should be paying for municipal services, have the means to do so but who refuse to pay are another concern,” Mashaba said.
He condemned this and said the City has decided to institute credit management processes against them.
“These same individuals are those who invariably drive up the costs of municipal services for paying residents; this is not fair. Payment for municipal services is not an option.”
The mayor said the City is currently conducting an audit of properties and meters, enforcing consequence and performance management for contractors and recruiting skilled and qualified professionals to address the challenges.
This also means ending wrongful terminations.
“For the City, even one wrongful termination is one too many. The City has also established billing open days to give ratepayers and property owners a platform to interact with revenue frontline staff who assist to remedy or update municipal accounts. The next billing open day will be announced soon.”
Edited by Stacey Woensdregt
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