Johannesburg - Don't call; don't visit - unless you want to make a payment.
The City of Joburg has been offline for at least a week and doesn't have a clear indication of when the system will be working again.
That means the City officials can't deal with queries by telephone or at the customer service centres on billing issues.
The customer care centres are still able to process payments on accounts, and car licence renewals are also being issued.
"Kindly note that the Customer Service Centre is currently offline, thus we are unable to render services relating to revenue queries. We apologise for any inconvenience caused," notices up at customer care centres read.
Being offline is obviously a routine problem as the laminated notices are a little battered from frequent use.
At the city's Roodepoort customer service centre, frustrated customers had braved the bitter cold to get to the office only to find it was a waste of time. Some had tried last week but had similarly been turned away.
One disgruntled customer, who did not wish to be named, had managed to get a copy of his billing statement but couldn't get a query addressed.
"That's all you can get is a statement," he said.
"It's crazy. It's been more than a week."
A woman, who also did not want to be named, was trying to finalise the transfer of her late husband's estate but had to leave without any help. "It's a matter of urgency," she said.
"They're not very helpful. They can't even issue forms. They can't do anything, just issue statements."
A pensioner from Northwold in Randburg, who didn't want to be named, expressed frustration at having made a wasted trip in the cold; she had to get a lift from a friend to the centre. "I want a pensioner's rebate," she said.
She already has a pensioner's discount but has to reapply for it every year; the deadline was on Friday but when she tried last week before that, the system was offline.
She said they couldn't process her application without the computer system. "They've got to go through the computer and give us a reference number."
Officials could give her "no idea" of when the system would be on again.
Several customers confirmed that they'd been able to make payments on accounts, showing their receipts.
"The only thing I was querying was the wisdom of issuing bills with the due date as the 22nd of the month when most of us get paid on the 25th. It doesn't make sense to me," said one of those who managed to make a payment.
Cliff Becker of Floracliffe was one of the few to get satisfaction. He had managed to get his car licence renewed, following ongoing frustration with a different bureaucracy.
"I've been to the Post Office nine times to get this disc because eNatis is offline all the time… nine times since Thursday afternoon," said Becker.
"Then I came here and thank God they were able to do it."
He left clutching the precious document.
An official at the centre said the system was offline because of the changeover at the start of the new municipal financial year on Friday. He said the system had been off for more than a week and there was no indication of when it would be restored.
Comment was not received from the City of Joburg at the time of publication.
The Star