An elderly resident from Robindale is accusing the City of Joburg for grossly overcharging him on his monthly statement of account.
The 78-year-old pensioner preferred not to be named, but said that on 13 August he found a letter addressed to him on the ground close to the gate at his residence.
To his shock the letter informed him that he owed the City R42 530.32 and that if he did not pay within 30 days, his water and electricity would be cut off. “I was going to throw the paper away. When I looked closer and saw it was addressed to me. When I saw what it said, I was very shocked as I pay my account on time every month,” he said.
He claimed that this was not his first run-in with the City.
He pointed out that prior to the pre-termination letter, his June statement indicated that the City owed him R9 459. He said he was surprised at this and called the City right away. The man added that he was told not to worry about his account and that he should leave it as it was and that the City would deduct their money every month until they did not owe him anymore.
The man said that he did not have the energy to tackle the City again, as previously, the City had made a mistake on his account, alleging that he owed them R101 000, which he said was resolved after he had taken the City to task.
“I want to know how the municipality can send out letters that was not checked for accuracy. They are spending a lot of money collecting our readings and, yet, they are being grossly negligent,” he said.
The City’s Revenue and Customer Relations Department spokesperson, Stanley Maphologela said that they had opened up an investigation into the matter, which included looking into the customer’s account history in order to determine where the problem lay and would comment further once the issue was resolved.
