Non-paying high-consumption residents in the City of Johannesburg owe Johannesburg Water and City Power in excess of R84 million for services.
This was revealed by Johannesburg Water on Friday during a Level 3 Disconnection Drive targeting chronic non-paying, high-consumption customers with long-standing, unpaid, and undisputed municipal debt.
Disconnection drive
The drive is part of Project Lokisa, an initiative led by Environmental and Infrastructure Service Department MMC Councillor Jack Sekwaila and Finance MMC Councillor Loyiso Masuku.
Joburg water urged customers to settle their accounts.
“The customers collectively owe in excess of R84 million to the City of Johannesburg. Some of these customers have not paid their accounts in over a year.
“The drive targeted customers in Regions E and F, specifically Johannesburg CBD, Orange Grove, Houghton, and Bryanston. The customers included businesses and residential (including high-rise flats),” Joburg Water said.
ALSO READ: Eskom will no longer get bailouts from the state, Ramokgopa says
Millions owed
Joburg Water added that in Region E, one business owed R2.2 million.
“This customer had bypassed the Johannesburg Water meter underground, to avoid paying for water services. Meaning the business was using water for free without paying for it.
“In Bagleyston, Orange Grove, also a business, the customer illegally reconnected themselves. They owed R2.5 million,” Joburg Water said.
Initiative
Joburg Water said the initiative will continue throughout November.
“Through this initiative, the city is intensifying revenue recovery efforts to protect service delivery, uphold financial accountability, and ensure fairness for paying customers.”
CoJ loses in court
Meanwhile, the City of Johannesburg has been ordered to apply the applicable pensioner’s rebate to the municipal account of an 81-year-old pensioner and reverse the charges on his account from a second water meter not linked to his property.
Acting Judge Mohammed Chohan said in a judgment handed down in the High Court in Johannesburg this week that the application by David Walter Phillips is disconcerting because it involves an 81-year-old pensioner “who has had no joy in attempting to resolve his billing disputes with the CoJ”.
Billing dispute
The first relates to a pensioner rebate, which Phillips said he was entitled to but which the CoJ had failed to implement, thereby resulting in an incorrect charge being levied.
The second is about Phillips being charged for water in terms of two water meters despite the second meter not being on his property or for his property.
The third complaint is about his application to obtain a prepaid meter to avoid the payment of network charges – but the CoJ finally installed a pre-paid meter about a week prior to the hearing, making “the relief sought in this regard academic”.
ALSO READ: Government calls for calm after volatile protests over water in Westbury
About the Author
