{"id":100430,"date":"2025-09-10T09:14:41","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T07:14:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=100430"},"modified":"2025-09-10T09:14:41","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T07:14:41","slug":"johannesburgs-billing-crisis-deepens-as-residents-turn-to-courts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/johannesburgs-billing-crisis-deepens-as-residents-turn-to-courts\/","title":{"rendered":"Johannesburg\u2019s Billing Crisis Deepens as Residents Turn to Courts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>
\n3-minute read <\/em>
\n10 September 2025 | 09:00 CAT<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"

\ud83d\udcf8 Frustrated Johannesburg residents take to the streets, demanding accountability over the city\u2019s broken billing system. \u201cOur City, Our Voices\u201d rings louder as communities unite against inflated tariffs and unlawful disconnections. Image credits: OUTA<\/p><\/div>\n

Johannesburg\u2019s long-standing billing woes have reached breaking point, as residents increasingly seek legal relief against what they describe as a \u201cnightmare\u201d system riddled with inflated tariffs, unlawful disconnections, and administrative chaos.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the Johannesburg Crisis Alliance Summit, Khule Duma of the Presidential Johannesburg Working Group highlighted the stark gap between revenue collection and Treasury expectations. \u201cRevenue collection sits just at about 82%, well short of National Treasury\u2019s 95% mark,\u201d he said, underscoring the city\u2019s desperate attempts to increase revenue at all costs.<\/p>\n

For many residents, the impact has been devastating. Julia Fish, Project Manager at The\u00a0Johannesburg Community Action Network (JoburgCAN<\/a>), told Radio Islam International<\/em> <\/a>that the system is fundamentally broken. \u201cThere\u2019s just no recognition that the city actually has no control over what\u2019s happening with its billing crisis,\u201d she explained. \u201cThe biggest problem is that the city has invested in metering that can be read remotely, but it\u2019s not working.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ripple effects extend far beyond technical failures. Residents who raise disputes about incorrect meter readings often find themselves disconnected illegally, in direct violation of the city\u2019s own bylaws. \u201cIf a customer has logged a dispute, the city is not supposed to enact any debt collection. But none of this is flagged for the people on the ground carrying out disconnections,\u201d Fish said.<\/p>\n

What has angered residents further is the city\u2019s double standard. \u201cIronically, it\u2019s a pay-first, ask-questions-later process,\u201d Fish added. \u201cWhen the city had a dispute with Eskom, they simply stopped paying. Yet residents are expected to comply without question.\u201d<\/p>\n

For those who choose to fight back, the financial burden is enormous. The city, instead of correcting errors, often uses ratepayers\u2019 money to defend itself in court. \u201cWe\u2019re paying with our own money to fight the city, and in most cases the courts are handing down punitive cost orders,\u201d Fish noted.<\/p>\n

Attempts to hold individuals accountable have been stymied by instability at the top. The city manager, who is legally the final accounting officer, post has been vacant since February, with two acting appointments failing to bring stability. \u201cThat person is supposed to be held personally liable,\u201d Fish said, \u201cbut because the position keeps changing, accountability is avoided.\u201d<\/p>\n

As frustration mounts, Johannesburg residents are left entangled in a system where administrative hurdles, expensive litigation, and leadership instability threaten to undermine faith in the city\u2019s governance.<\/p>\n

Listen<\/strong> to the full interview on Sabahul Muslim<\/em><\/a> with Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat and Julia Fish.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za\u00a0 3-minute read 10 September 2025 | 09:00 CAT Johannesburg\u2019s long-standing billing woes have reached breaking point, as residents increasingly seek legal relief against what they describe as a \u201cnightmare\u201d system riddled with inflated tariffs, unlawful disconnections, and administrative chaos. Speaking at the Johannesburg Crisis Alliance Summit, Khule Duma of the Presidential […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":100431,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,4995],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-south-africa"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/JoburgCAN.jpg?fit=268%2C188&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-q7Q","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-19 21:49:07","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}