A Johannesburg resident was so fed up with not receiving a bill and consistently have his electricity supplies disconnected that he decided to institute legal proceedings against the council
So Linus Muller laid charges against the City of Joburg’s mayor Amos Masondo and mayoral committee member for finance, Parks Tau. It was an unprecedented move but Muller says that he was so fed up from the complaints he received from Blairgowrie residents that he had to take action.
Muller is the communications officer of the Blairgowrie Community Association.
He says that in terms of Municipal Systems Act residents have the right to a “prompt response” to any written or oral communications, including complaints, from a municipality or any other political structure.
Muller says that he hasn’t received a bill for more than a year and even had an altercation with a municipal representative who demanded to read his electricity meter. Muller refused as he only uses a prepaid electricity system.
Muller eventually laid charges against Masondo and Tau and even this action has hit a snag becomes the senior prosecutor dealing with the case has provisionally withdrawn the charges because Muller must prove that he is not the only Joburg resident affected by the billing woes in the city.
According to the Joburg Advocacy Group (Jag), when a charge is laid, the police are obliged to investigate it, not the victim says Jag spokeswoman Lee Cahill.
In order for the senior prosecutor to reinstate the charges, Muller has to prove that many other Joburg residents are also victims of poor administration and that they too have not received replies to written or oral submissions.
So anyone interested in joining this campaign should send an e-mail to Muller and put #bills in the subject line. People should include their name, account number and contact number along with any reference number relating to a complaint.
Once Muller has established that there are a number of other people in the same predicament as he is, he will present the information to the senior prosecutor. In that way, he hopes to have the charges reinstated, forcing the matter of Joburg’s bill mess to go before the courts.
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