Councillors in eThekwini Municipality are raising concerns over persistent billing inaccuracies and inflated utility bills. The eThekwini Municipality is coming under fire over billing crises that have saddled consumers with high “fictitious” bills, raising fears that it could hamper embattled ratepayers from benefiting from a Special Debt Relief Programme. Councillors in the city have raised concerns that residents are still faced with incorrect billing.
They revealed that in some cases, they have had to intervene to resolve a ratepayer’s debt of R132 000 and another of R120 000 respectively, which weresources of system failures in the city. “For several years, the Revenue Management System (RMS) has produced incorrect, estimated, and highly inflated bills, often without verified meter readings. These errors are causing severe financial strain on households and businesses and undermining public confidence in the municipality’s ability to manage its own revenue processes,” he said.
He added that residents and small businesses are unfairly excluded from municipal programmes – such as the Special Debt Relief Programme – because they cannot afford to pay 50% of a disputed and inaccurate debt. IFP councillor Jonathan Annipen said he recently had to intervene to assist residents, some of whom have been faced with thousands of rand in inaccurate billing that they have battled to resolve for more than a year. In one case, he mentioned a resident who was left reeling after receiving a shocking municipal bill of R132 000.
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“It appears that over a period of time, estimates were used to bill the consumer instead of actual meter readings. Thereafter, an actual reading was captured, and the system automatically adjusted the difference between estimates and the actual consumption. “The result is that the account now reflects thetotal amount of usage over a longer period, charged at the current rate, which is significantly higher than previous tariff rates.
This is not only unfair but also inaccurate, as it penalises the consumer for the municipality’s failure to take regular readings.” Annipen said many residents across Phoenix are experiencing incorrect and inflated billing – not because of their own actions, but because of systemic failures within the municipality. In another case, he mentioned an elderly couple on a social grant who qualified for services under the indigent policy but faced a blocking debt that had grown to R120 000, which they battled over the past two years. “The system itself is broken,” he said. “Residents who qualify for indigent support are often left stranded because applications take far too long to be processed.” The municipality said in a statement it is committed to resolving the billing challenges.
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