The City of Johannesburg is set to kick-off a series of Open Days to resolve ratepayers’ long outstanding queries. During the Covid-19 lockdown and the limitations on staff members attending to work, the City’s capacity to deal with customer queries was reduced.
The Open Day will now afford customers an opportunity to have their queries addressed.
The first Open Day will be hosted from Saturday,19 September 2020, at the Randburg Customer Service Centre, corner Bramfischer and Jan Smuts Avenue in Region B.
It will be followed by the 26 September 2020, at the Eldorado Park Customer Service Centre, 4064 Link Crescent, Extension 5 in Region G, and 3 October 2020 at the Braamfontein Thuso House Customer Service Centre, 61 Jorissen Street in Region F. The scheduled operating times for all Open Days will be from 08:00-14:00.
All these Open Days will be followed by a weeklong extended operational hours at all the mentioned venues from 07:30am to17:00pm daily.
Ratepayers with queries and who wish to bring them for resolutions are required to first book an appointment by calling the number 011 326 4857 or alternatively send an email to OpendayRegionB@joburg.org.za with their full contact details including the names and address, account number, nature of the query, and the Open Day they wish to attend two days prior to the date of hosting each Open Day. This is to ensure that the City is able to adhere to the Covid-19 regulations of social distancing, sanitizing and screening at all times.
Residents who will not be able to bring their queries to the Open Day can still visit the City’s Customer Centres where there will be extended operational hours in support of the Open Days. However, ratepayers will still need to book an appointment using the telephone number and email address provided to ensure that congestion is avoided and Covid-19 regulations are adhered to during these Open Days.
The immediate hosting of Open Days comes after a high number of customer queries and complaints were received for consumption bills issued during the lockdown period. Tariff increases for 2020/21 have been identified as another contributing factor to the increased volume of queries.
Ratepayers with additional information such as meter readings, pictures of the meter are requested to bring them on the day in order to demonstrate variations on their bills. This will assist in the speedy query resolution process on the day.
Ratepayers are advised to take advantage of this opportunity to resolve any outstanding billing queries and engage in mechanisms to better manage their municipal accounts. Due to lockdown level 2 regulations, a structured approach will be applied to ensure the safety of staff and customers.
Having scanned through the regions and proactively identified the types of queries residents have been logging, the City calls all ratepayers with outstanding queries to come forward for immediate resolution. Customer education on the use of water and electricity, as well as the application of the 2020/21 recent tariff increase will be explained at these Open Days.
We will have the presence of multi-disciplinary customer relationship agents – from our billing unit, Johannesburg Water, City Power (electricity), Rates and Taxes, and meter readers on site that will be focused on resolving a variety of long outstanding billing queries on the spot. The Open Days are part of the City’s ongoing efforts to ensure all billing queries are resolved.
The Director for Communications and Stakeholder Engagement in Group Finance, Kgamanyane Maphologela said, “We pride ourselves in serving residents of Johannesburg, and therefore it is important to us that their queries are resolved to their understanding and satisfaction hence the availability of officials of the City to assist customers with query resolution.”
According to Maphologela, “Open Days are planned across all regions in the City in order to resolve all outstanding queries and explain the impact of approved 2020/21 tariffs.” During this process, customers will be clarified on all requirements in the query resolution process. Details of all other regions will be communicated in due course.
Customers can expect a multiplicity of services to be offered on the day ranging from general account enquiries, using water and electricity sparingly, as well as how to read a bill. We call on ratepayers to continue paying their municipal rates and services while we remain committed to resolve all outstanding queries as we intensify provision of basic services.
ENDS
Issued by:
Kgamanyane Maphologela
Director: Communications and Stakeholder Engagement
Group Finance
Email: stanmapho@joburg.org.za
