Residents and ratepayers of the embattled Msunduzi Municipality in Pietermaritzburg have pleaded with the administration to reconsider its new double billing system, which they say is causing them financial hardship.
The city says its multiple billing cycle is meant to assist consumers in paying their bills but the system appears to have created confusion and panic among residents.
Rooksana Khan from Northdale says her water and electricity bill at the end of March was R1 500, which she paid. The pensioner says 15 days later, she received a second bill of R3 000, which is double the initial amount. She says she just cannot afford to pay more because she won’t be able to buy food and medication.
“Now I have the second billing which I cannot afford to pay and the due date is the 15th. I actually went up to the municipality to query this and the guy told me that I need to pay at least 30%, which is R800. I am not left with a cent after paying my current account. There is no money for food and other stuff. So where do I get R800 to pay by the 15th? Now I was told if I don’t pay this amount I will be disconnected,” Khan explains.
She’s one of the half a million residents in Pietermaritzburg who’ve received two bills in one month, demanding payment or be disconnected. In many cases, the amounts to pay have doubled. Residents have queried this but were told to make a payment arrangement such as paying a percentage of the amount payable.
Other residents have received bills which have nearly tripled. Anusha Pillay says she was overcharged, her bill went from R4 000 to R12 000 a month.
She says this shocked her but the municipal offices told her to pay after she made enquiries.
“We are paying our current account and that is all we are only going to pay our current account and we not paying nothing more.”
Ratepayers Association is threatening the council with legal action. Anthony Waldhausen explains
“The municipality introduced a multi-billing cycle for the residents but the challenge is that the municipality is actually introduced this system incorrectly as well as irregularly and unlawfully.”
The Democratic Alliance led a march to the Pietermaritzburg City Hall in support of angry residents. This followed protest action by other concerned civic society groups to voice dissatisfaction over the new billing system. The municipality has refuted the claims that the city has introduced a double billing system.
Msunduzi Municipality Manager, Lulamile Mapholoba says there is no double billing.
“There is absolutely no double billing. There is one billing. What we have done we have separated due to the volume of work to ensure the efficiency, effectiveness and accuracy of the statement. We have decided that residents will be billed on the 14th of the month starting from the 15th of April and going forward so there is no double billing.”
But Mapholoba couldn’t explain why many residents received bills which were so much higher than their usual monthly payments. Residents fear that the new system will put them in permanent debt.
The struggling municipality, which is faced with service delivery challenges, has been under administration for five years.
