“Abused Resident” from Roodepoort writes:
In comment on your article on the strike, Pikitup is obviously ill informed about their own billing system.
While it is true that the charges are levied according to the category and size of the property, it is on a charge of the bin basis according to their bin census. If your property has two bins, you pay double what your next door neighbour with one bin pays. Businesses also pay different scales, all clearly defined. A weekly collection is assumed.
There is nothing to prevent the city reimbursing residents for services not rendered.
To state it bluntly, a portion of your rates of what is supposed to be paying for the other cleaning services, the portion of your bill for refuse removal states the number of bins for which you are paying a removal fee. Charging for services not supplied is fraud, and it is time the city woke up to the fact. It spent millions on a computer which is quite capable of calculating the credit due everyone on an area by area basis for non-collection.
The truth of the matter is they just expect the ratepayer to cough up as usual. Fraud and extortion are the city’s usual business practices. Overcharging on municipal accounts in countless different ways and then demanding full payment while it takes years to sort the matter out happens hundreds of times a week, possibly even a day in our “world class city”
It is time the residents appealed to the Public Protector for an independent audit of the city’s billing practices. Flouting the law with impunity seems to be something that Zuma and the city have in common.
