BILLING CRISIS: Joburg pensioner gets R437,000 in credits, write-offs after seven-year billing battle

For the first time in years, Johannesburg pensioner Umesh Daya can open his municipal bill without confronting a debt of hundreds of thousands of rands – and, he says, without the overwhelming, constant fear of disconnection that accompanied it.

His seven-year billing dispute has involved repeated complaints, an appeal to the Johannesburg Ombudsman and, eventually, a desperate plea to Daily Maverick for help.

Daya says the mounting charges and repeated threats of disconnection caused enormous stress, affected his health and disrupted his employment. He says he repeatedly had to leave work and rush to his Crosby home when told officials had arrived to disconnect his services.

Now, his October 2026 municipal statement records an outstanding balance of R5,418, compared with a previous balance of R442,908. It lists sundry credits totalling R437,424.

Daya is relieved, although he continues to dispute the remaining amount.

The dramatic reduction follows questions from Daily Maverick to the City and City Power about the account.

City Power announced an “urgent investigation” and said appropriate account adjustments would be determined once it was completed.

A confused account

According to City Power, electricity billing on Daya’s account began in May 2019 and was backdated by three years.

The City raised R276,244 in retrospective charges – R238,131 for electricity and R38,113 for water.

City Power told Daily Maverick that although Daya had bought his property in 1996, it was unclear why his water and electricity services remained linked to the previous owner’s account.

The retrospective electricity billing was based on estimated readings from a meter that was later removed. City Power acknowledged that the job card did not contain the meter reading at removal.

Daya also says a City Power official told him a meter installed at his home was stolen and belonged to another customer.

Correspondence from the Ombudsman records his allegation that, in April 2021, his conventional meter was damaged by a spark. When technicians investigated, he said, they told him it belonged to another address and advised him to apply for another meter.

The correspondence records the allegation that the meter belonged elsewhere; it does not establish that it was stolen.

But City Power’s subsequent analysis identified another apparent discrepancy: a customer number linked to Daya had been used to buy prepaid electricity since 2013.

“This suggests that the customer should not have been billed on a postpaid basis for electricity during the period 2019 to 2022, as electricity was being purchased through the prepaid meter,” City Power said.

The Ombudsman intervenes

The Johannesburg Ombudsman took up Daya’s complaint in 2023, asking City Power to explain why he was being billed for conventional electricity while buying prepaid power, and when his electricity supply would be restored. The office requested a comprehensive response, but more than three years later, despite further meetings, the dispute remained unresolved.

In its September response to Daily Maverick, City Power said several reconciliation meetings had been held with Daya and the Ombudsman, but his account could not yet be confirmed as fully corrected.

‘You are my only hope’

By the time Daya approached Daily Maverick, he was desperate.

“I am exhausted, frustrated and completely overwhelmed by this situation. I have tried every avenue available to me, yet I am still no closer to a resolution.”

He pleaded for help: “You are my only hope now.”

Daya said the years-long dispute had devastated him financially.

“I have lost almost everything financially as a result of this ongoing ordeal. I don’t even know whether I will ever be able to recover all the money I have unnecessarily spent trying to resolve this matter with CoJ officials.”

He described the toll of the mounting debt: “It caused enormous stress every single month, opening these growing bills and worrying I would lose my house.”

Threats and disconnections

Daya says he faced more than 80 threats of disconnection over the years and that his water and electricity were disconnected on several occasions. He also alleges that, on several occasions, people linked to the City offered to make his debt disappear in return for bribes.

“I was asked for a bribe many times to write the debt off, but I consistently refused,” he said.

City Power said its records showed two electricity disconnections, both in 2022, and none recorded between 2023 and 2026.

It did not say whether Daya’s specific bribery allegations had been investigated, but said customers were never required to pay employees or contractors to correct accounts or restore services, and urged them to report suspected corruption.

Relief, with questions remaining

The October statement contains credits and adjustments across electricity, water, refuse and other categories.

These include a R243,424 City Power debt rehabilitation credit, a R73,195 water credit, and further credits and write-offs.

The description “debt rehabilitation” does not establish how much of the reduction represents the reversal of incorrect billing and how much reflects debt relief.

The statement now records prepaid electricity and no current electricity charge.

Daya still wants the remaining R5,418 investigated and removed if it relates to the disputed billing.

Although that dispute continues, the man who only weeks ago said he had exhausted every avenue available to him says the reduction has brought enormous relief.

“I am very thankful to Daily Maverick for intervening and getting this finally sorted out,” he said.

For Daya, however, reducing the figures on a municipal statement cannot restore what he says the seven-year battle has already cost him. DM