BUREAUCRATIC GRIDLOCK: R44m Gauteng, Joburg billing dispute threatens 22 child-care NGOs
Three Gauteng departments and the City of Johannesburg are locked in a billing dispute that could paralyse 22 NGOs that care for children.
A bureaucratic dispute between four Gauteng government departments and the City of Johannesburg could cripple 22 child-care NGOs and the Johannesburg School for Autism. The Children's Memorial Institute (CMI) campus in Parktown is under threat of service disconnection, which would halt operations for the NGOs and disrupt healthcare facilities.
Despite high court interdicts, the City has issued new pre-termination notices for water and electricity bills, totaling over R44 million in disputed arrears dating back years. The utility usage disparity is enormous, with the provincial laundry facility consuming over 90% of the water and electricity, while the 22 charities combined use only 12 kilolitres of water daily.
The root cause lies in a master account agreement from 2013, where the Gauteng Department of Health managed the master utility account, but later disputed the billing, stopping payments without setting up individual meters. The Gauteng Department of Infrastructure (GDID) and Education are also entangled, with GDID delaying the installation of independent zonal sub-meters as mandated by the high court and GDE failing to pay its share for nearly two years, accumulating a R2-million backlog.
The implications are severe, impacting infection control, educational services, and healthcare operations.
Written by urgent.news from Daily Maverick's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
