Joburg residents say Mashaba's legacy leaves little to be desired

City of Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba announces his resignation from the DA at a briefing in the Johannesburg Civic Centre, Braamfontein. His resignation will come into effect on November 27. Twitter

City of Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba announces his resignation from the DA at a briefing in the Johannesburg Civic Centre, Braamfontein. His resignation will come into effect on November 27. Twitter

Published Oct 27, 2019

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Some Joburg residents have expressed mixed feelings and scepticism about outgoing mayor Herman Mashaba’s legacy in resolving municipal-related billing queries as he had promised at the beginning of his term.

During his tenure Mashaba kept promising residents that

the billing issues, inherited from the ANC municipality before his DA-led council took over, will be a thing of the past. He repeated this in all his budget speeches.

But some residents are still not convinced because they are still receiving incorrect bills.

Keenen Whittaker from Maraisburg was incorrectly billed R48 000 for electricity because of a faulty meter.

Whittaker still blames the city for putting a strain on his marriage by regularly sending “rude” officials to cut his service although he pays his account every month.

Asked about Mashaba’s legacy, Whittaker said: “Well, I’m not sure about that really. My matter had to end up in the newspaper to get the city’s attention to sort out my account after many years.

“It was indeed a very painful and embarrassing process, the way the

city officials treated us by cutting electricity illegally. Illegal disconnection letters, even if your account had queries. I’m still getting billings with estimates for the last six months now,” said Whittaker.

He said whoever takes over from Mashaba must fix the billing issue and make it his or her priority as well as stopping the illegal connections.

Raquel Fortune from Florida North said her problems started in 2008 when she received inflated bills, and she has been fighting with City Power in West Rand offices since.

She said Mashaba had tried to resolve this teething problem, but he was not able to assist fully as his hands were tied.

“To a certain degree, there were other decision makers and role players that did not carry out their duties.

“The new mayor needs one-on-one interviews with us, the people that are being ignored and bullied in the suburbs even though we are no longer financially able, just like those in townships.

“I pray for my billing issues and nightmare to stop,” said Fortune.

Rodney Churchyard was slapped with a bill of more than R60 000, yet he was on a prepaid meter. He attributed this to the city’s incompetence.

Churchyard said his issue was immediately resolved in June when he attended one of the Open Day events which was organised by the city in Roodepoort.

He said the purpose of this event was to give residents an opportunity to have their queries resolved.

“Yes, I think he did his best when it came to the billing, but more information days should be held. It seems like a person could get more done on these specific days.

“It is such a pity he left us hanging, and I really hope that the new mayor will not try and reinvent the wheel. He has to follow and complete the plan that Herman implemented,” said Churchyard.

Yet, Deon Roodt, whose woes with the city started in July 2018, said he received a whopping bill for R69593.62, and after numerous enquiries, was told that a “recon”

had been done from 2006 to 2018 prior to this “ridiculous” invoice on his account.

“I asked why the account was

still so high, and I was told that in all those years (2006-2018), estimates were done incorrectly. Now I have to pay for 12 years of their mistakes,” asked Roodt.

Roodt said Mashaba’s legacy was very poor.

“Because things as are as they were. The new mayor should do it more efficiently and with more meaning,” said Roodt.

Sunday Independent

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