Sandton Chronicle creates a little movement on Bramley pensioner’s delayed municipal account transfer
After years of visits to municipal offices and repeated follow ups, Portia Nyathi is still unable to transfer her late husband’s municipal account, preventing her from accessing the expanded social package meant for pensioners, but a little light may be at the end of the tunnel, after several officials reached out after seeing the article in the Sandton Chronicle.
More than a month after the City of Johannesburg made contact with Bramley pensioner Portia Nyathi, following media coverage, she says she is back to square one.
No progress has been made in the transfer of her late husband’s municipal account to her name and no communication has been received from the city officials.
Nyathi has been trying since April 2025 to have the municipal account transferred into her name, following the death of her husband in January 2023, but she says the account is still registered under both their names, preventing her from applying for the expanded social package (ESP), which offers pensioners relief on municipal rates.
“I have been visiting the City of Johannesburg offices for years now. I can’t receive statements on my email, I can only access them when I log on to my portal. When I go to their offices to enquire about my outstanding balances, they do not give me a statement. They only show me on their screens that this is the money I am owing.”
In December, the Sandton Chronicle published an article detailing Nyathi’s struggle. Three days after the publication, she received a call from Thembelihle Khuzwayo, of the ESP special project unit at the City of Johannesburg based at the Braamfontein offices.
“The lady told me she saw the article and asked what my problem was. I explained to her that I want to apply for the ESP, but I can’t because the City of Johannesburg has not done the change of ownership.
“She then asked for my documents. I gave them to her and she said she was going on festive holidays leave and will contact me in January. Since then, I never heard from her again.”
She added that this issue has made it difficult for her to track her debt accurately, especially as the figures fluctuate without explanation.
Nyathi said she last paid her municipal rates in October, when she was told she was owing R3 998, an amount she says is too much for the pensioner. “That is where I drew the line. I am a pensioner. I can’t keep paying thousands of rands while the city delays fixing its own issues.”
When she logged on to her municipal portal in the end of November to track her debt, Nyathi said her outstanding balance was R3 199. By the end of December, the payment went up to R6 400. “When I logged in at the end of January, the balance went down to R2 457.48. Which is confusing because no payment was made in November or December. I am asking myself how this is possible.
“Another thing is that, early last year, they were very quick to say I should pay, otherwise Johannesburg Water will come and switch off the water, but since my last payment in October nobody came to disconnect my water. I now feel like I am not the one who owes the city, maybe they owe me.”
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On January 27, Nyathi visited the City of Johannesburg offices on 8th Avenue in Alexandra to do a follow up on the matter. “I went to the city offices on 8th Avenue to check if my statement would come out, and also to see if the ownership has changed, but nothing came out.”
The prolonged silence from the city has taken a serious toll on Nyathi’s health. “The silence of the city has affected me so badly, I now have chronic disease. I couldn’t even enjoy the festive holidays because I was always in bed because of something which could have been resolved a long time ago. I don’t know what to do anymore. I’m out of options.”
Upon seeing the article in the Santon Chronicle in December, advocate Colman Ramontja, acting executive manager at the complaints and investigations unit at the office of the Ombudsman, reached out. Ramontja asked for Nyathi’s contact details to see how their office could assist her in resolving her issues.
When we reached out to Ramontja on February 3 for an update, he said: “I can confirm that our office opened its own instance investigation on this matter. Relevant information was gathered from Ms Nyathi’s sister, Matshidiso Nyathi, and our office managed to submit an allegation letter to the City of Johannesburg.
“Practically we give the City of Johannesburg up to three months to investigate and provide feedback. Our office will be in a position to provide detailed feedback by no later than March 15.”
The Sandton Chronicle reached out to City of Johannesburg spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane on December 2, 8, 11, and again on February 3 for comment, but none has been received. Updates will be provided once they become available.
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