The City of Johannesburg’s MMC of Finance, Dr Rabelani Dagada, said he does not believe the City has a billing crisis but finds fault in the bylaws regarding estimations instead.
The MMC listed one of his main objectives in his new role, “To improve revenue management and billing process.”
Mayor Herman Mashaba, during the run-up to the 2016 municipal elections, said the City has been plagued by a billing and revenue collection crisis for several years, which has led to billions of rands worth of lost or written-off revenue.
But the MMC disagrees that it is a crisis, saying that it is simply about looking at the bylaws that allow for three- or six-month estimations based on one reading that, according to Dagada, is flawed and does not allow for seasonal or other considerations.
“Customers are worried about estimations. The estimations are ridiculous,” the MMC said.
In his first 100 days, Dagada will attempt to change this bylaw. He said it will be debated and discussed.
“We do have teething problems where some meter readers might not be trained, but I do not want bylaws to be used as an excuse not to fast-track service delivery,” he said.
Dagada spoke of implementing prepaid water and electricity meters as another solution. “We should start at Mayor Mashaba’s home implementing prepaid water meters and smart meters. With prepaid water and electricity, the billing issue will not happen,” he said.
