The Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg has ordered the City of Joburg to overhaul its controversial billing practices.
This ruling has its genesis in a battle by two Randburg residents against incorrect billing and dates back to May 2023. Anthea Verity Tarica and Katherine Anne Gascoigne sought urgent redress for the disconnection of electricity services stemming from a range of disputed charges. They alleged that the disputes were attributed to administrative failures and overbilling by the municipality.
The applicants contended that charges on their municipal account, originally opened in the name of Tarica's late husband, Jacques Tarica, were riddled with inaccuracies. They asserted that the City had continued billing them despite the death of Jacques Tarica in 2021, without rectifying alleged mistakes that dated back to 2014. The disputed amount reportedly reached R150,000, which the applicants maintained was largely due to incorrect meter readings and administrative errors.
The court heard claims of faulty meters and excessive charges culminating in a rebill that the applicants deemed exorbitant and unjustified. Tarica's appeals to the City for intervention had reportedly gone unanswered, leading to the decision to cut off essential services. This prompted immediate legal action to reconnect electricity, highlighting an escalating crisis in customer service and municipal responsiveness.
During the proceedings, the issues at hand included the legitimacy of charges that had allegedly prescribed, as well as whether the municipality had accurately communicated the basis for billing. The court found that the applicants had duly raised their disputes in line with the Municipal Systems Act, a legislation that governs the relationship between municipalities and residents regarding service delivery and billing, and ruled that any charges that became due before May 2020 were extinguished by prescription.
Judge D Mahon's ruling noted that while the first applicant, Tarica, made payments on non-disputed amounts, the City had failed to prove the accuracy of contested charges. The court referred to the principles outlined in previous legal cases which underscore the municipality's obligations to provide transparent billing and to address verifiable consumption accurately.
The municipality's counterapplication, seeking to compel her to open an account in her name and to hold her jointly liable for her late husband's municipal debts, was dismissed. The judge directed that the City open a new municipal account for Tarica, transfer relevant account charges, and ensure that prescribed debts were written off.
The City of Johannesburg has been given 30 days to implement the court's directives, including establishing a clear framework for handling billing disputes. This ruling is expected to benefit thousands of other residents who have faced similar billing challenges.
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