Johannesburg - South Africans have suffered the effects of extended bouts of load shedding over the holiday season, and as if that was not enough, Johannesburg landlords have had to contend with the threat of unlawful disconnections of what little power there is to their inner-city residential buildings, by a disorganised, inefficient City of Johannesburg (COJ).
So says Angela Rivers, the general manager of the Johannesburg property owners and Managers Association (JPOMA), which represents most landlords offering affordable housing in inner-city Johannesburg.
“The Constitution is very clear about the City’s responsibilities as the holder of the executive authority for the supply of electricity, water and sanitation and refuse services to ratepayers: firstly COJ has to provide those services sustainably, and secondly it has to promote the social and economic upliftment of the community.
“In addition, the City is obliged to provide mechanisms for customers to query accounts and handle any such queries promptly, taking corrective action where required,” she said.
This is not what happens in real-life Johannesburg, though, says Rivers. Instead in the country’s biggest metropole one of the following scenarios is likely to play out:
Scenario 1:
• A newly developed residential property, whose plans the City approved, will be billed with municipal tariffs as commercial when its status as residential was never in dispute. Incorrect billing takes place from the start.
• The landlord applies for a correction. He gets no resolution, after trying repeatedly. Several months pass.
• The landlord seeks legal help, and a costly legal bill starts mounting.
• The lawyer’s efforts result in the query being upheld, with the City (in effect the taxpayers) ending up liable for substantial legal costs. However, although the correct tariff applies going forward, the correction is not implemented retroactively, and the landlord keeps being billed with a backlog of “owed” debt, with interest.
Scenario 2:
• An old property is classified incorrectly, and inappropriate tariffs are used to calculate the account.
• The landlord applies for a correction, and has to eventually revert to legal assistance, as above.
• While the dispute is unresolved, the City dispatches a disconnection team without giving the landlord or the building residents fair notice, and disconnects the electricity unlawfully.
• Due to the electricity being disconnected, the multi-storey building’s water supply stops, as it requires an electric pump to ensure reticulation.
• The landlord sources and funds a water tanker as an interim emergency water supply pending the reinstatement of the electricity supply through the courts.
• Irate tenants take the water tanker hostage, and threaten the building caretaker’s life, while demanding that their services be restored by the landlord, whom they accuse of stealing the money they paid for services.
Scenario 3:
• As happened in the run up to the festive season, the disconnection team comes out in force.
Despite the law prohibiting disconnections on cases that are in active dispute, six buildings owned or managed by JPOMA were disconnected in the first half of December and two more disconnections were attempted, without due notice.
• In three of the cases, says Rivers, City employees attempted to solicit bribes in exchange for not completing the disconnections.
• Naming and shaming should be the logical next step, but fear of victimisation, and fears for the safety of their tenants, prevent jittery landlords from exposing the corrupt officials responsible.
“These are all real stories, and they are the tip of the iceberg. Our members call us for help when these unlawful actions are rolled out across our city, and every festive season this escalates,” said Rivers.
“We advise, and try to assist, and we call on the honest city officials we have come to know and trust – they are there, and they work so hard to keep the train on its tracks – to help right the wrongs. It’s a full time job.”
JPOMA was able to prevent two of the unlawful disconnections attempted in December, and is bracing itself for the next bout in the coming days as businesses open up again after the festive season.