I would like to hear from anyone that is having problems with CoJ. I have been fighting a water bill of approx R45 000 for the last 10 years and the Public Protector has had it for over 5 years and still no sign of resolution. I get threats from CoJ regularly and they keep dropping off pre-termination notices at the security. They don’t even put it in an envelope.
I would like to hear from other people that are having the same problems so that we can put pressure on the Public Protector
This is frightening, @hilda, thank you for sharing.
@Ferial @Editrix Is this an issue on your radars?
Hi Hilda, we have been contesting an account since 2010! Yes, that’s right - 15 years. We have had numerous consultants involved, dealt with CoJ personally, spent over R100k on a court case which we won. We still have a bill of over R400k. We now cannot transfer the property which we have sold. Sadly, I think the Public Protector has bigger issues to deal with.
Dear Hilda, I have been battling a ZAR 31K water bill (in 2 accounts, 1 month apart) ‘out of the blue’, sent to me in 2023. Been through all the channels including the Ombudsman (> a year to make a decision) and I was forced to pay this huge amount, as one person in a complex home. I am happy to work with a group to challenge this state of affairs…things like changed meters (without the homeowner’s knowledge), access to meters without the homeowner’s knowledge and all sorts of other ‘tricks’ we may know nothing about must e challenged. Please let me know how we can team up and challenge this situation. I had to pay this in installments with interest to stop my water being disconnected. No help from the City or anyone in Government actually….I believe it is a ‘scam’….
We are fighting over out water and electricity bills (over R40K!!!), as well as the billing cycles - sometimes 44 days, then 49 and some others 20?
It would seem as if there are targets to be met and the city is over-charging people with impunity.
When we queried the meter reading the department official a city power said that the meter reader “Lied” - how can we run a city if we have “Liars” at all levels literally stealing from us!?
They told us to pay up and go to the Ombud, where we have had no luck … we’ve been so far as to lodge the complaint with NERSA, who have been very helpful, but unfortunately you are dealing with City Power who have a million and one excuses and don’t listen to, nor read, reason and evidence.