Latest news with #ProjectLokisa
The Citizen
17-07-2025
- The Citizen
City says Craighall pensioners owe R143k for unpaid services, not billing error
For Barrie and Geraldine Brookstone, life in their Craighall home has been anything but peaceful. The retired couple in their 70s say they are being billed for electricity linked to a meter that is not even installed at their property, and they have the documents to prove it. Yet despite their pleas and proof of mismatched meter numbers, they continue to receive letters from City Power threatening disconnection unless they pay a total municipal debt of over R143 000. Barrie claims he has paid around R10 000 a month in recent months to keep the lights on, while mostly living in just one room with his partially paralysed wife. 'They keep saying I owe thousands, but I've paid and paid,' he said. Also read: Elderly Craighall Park couple face R143k City Power bill, for a meter that's not theirs A new prepaid smart meter was eventually installed on July 16 after months of confusion and frustration. City responds with facts and a firm stance. Following the initial article, the City of Johannesburg issued a statement addressing the Brookstones' concerns. According to their records, the R143 000 bill is not just for electricity, but for combined municipal services including property rates, water, sewer and refuse. Kgamanyane Maphologela, director of communications, said, 'The property owners have a long-standing pattern of irregular payments and are classified as part-paying customers.' The city claims the couple have either underpaid or skipped payments altogether over the past four years. The city added that despite repeated opportunities, no formal debt repayment arrangement has been made. As such, the property has been flagged for disconnection under Project Lokisa, a city-wide campaign to target defaulting accounts and illegal connections. Also read: Residents along Louis Botha Avenue furious as City Power fails to fix damaged infrastructure Customers facing financial difficulties are urged to approach the municipality to make formal payment arrangements. Various payment options are available, including debit orders, EasyPay retailers, and online banking. City Power shifts billing responsibilities In a separate statement, City Power announced that as of July 1, it has officially taken over electricity billing from the City of Johannesburg. This shift is aimed at resolving persistent billing issues and restoring trust with residents. City Power CEO Tshifularo Mashava said the change is designed to bring greater accuracy and accountability to the process. 'By taking full ownership of the billing function, we are putting customers at the centre of our operations,' she said. Also read: Tips to reduce power usage and stay warm this winter A new city-wide audit of electricity meters is already underway to ensure every household is correctly billed. A dedicated unit has also been created to handle billing queries and speed up resolution times. Residents with queries are encouraged to email [email protected] or call 011 490 7484. For Barrie, who insists the numbers still don't add up, the issue remains deeply personal. 'We just want clarity and fairness,' he said. 'Someone must be held responsible for this mess.' The city says they are open to working with all residents, but payment or at least an arrangement is non-negotiable. Follow us on our Whatsapp channel, Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok for the latest updates and inspiration! Have a story idea? We'd love to hear from you – join our WhatsApp group and share your thoughts! At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
IOL News
10-06-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Joburg's Project Lokisa: A bold move to recover R61 billion in municipal debt
The City of Johannesburg has launched Project Lokisa in an attempt to recover billions of rand it is owed by businesses, government, and residents. Image: Cara Viereckl / Independent Newspapers The City of Johannesburg is intensifying its efforts to reduce its nearly R61 billion consumer debt by targeting the municipality's worst defaulters. Project Lokisa will be an aggressive debt recovery focusing on the city's biggest defaulters, particularly large electricity and water consumers with properties valued above R100 million, high-valued residential properties valued at more than R5m, businesses, government departments, and state-owned entities. According to the National Treasury's latest available figures, as of the end of December last year, the country's eight metropolitan municipalities were owed more than R206bn, with households responsible for about R154bn, businesses almost R43bn while the debt owed by organs of state stood at R7.73bn. In total, municipal consumer debt across the country was just over R405bn, with households about 72% (or R291.1bn) and the government 5.6% (R22.7bn). Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ This week, the City of Joburg announced the launch of Project Lokisa, which means to fix or sort out, and the municipality described it as a multifaceted approach aiming to claw back the money owed for municipal services by the worst defaulters. The large scale and bold reform also aims to improve revenue recovery and ensure the municipality's financial sustainability. Acting group head of revenue and shared Malope Ramagaga said Project Lokisa will encompass the implementation of large-scale disconnection operations across the city, targeting mostly worst defaulters, with an intense focus on illegal connections and the constant monitoring of the impact of disconnection on customers. Ramagaga also indicated that under Project Lokisa, changes will be introduced to the process of issuing clearance certificates when owners sell their properties. He said this was to ensure that the municipality does not lose money owed for municipal services by the seller when they finally put their property on sale. 'A clearance certificate will be provided to the transferring attorney and the customer with a notice of the total amount owing above 90 days. Attorneys will be given notice to sign an acknowledgment of debt, which will authorise direct payment to the city from the sale proceeds,' Ramagaga explained. The municipality has urged all property owners and businesses to settle their outstanding accounts or alternatively make payment arrangements to avoid disconnections and legal action.
