Joburg pensioner wins R2.6m billing battle

More than R2.6-million has been credited to Jenny-Lee Bot's account after a Public Protector investigation revealed a faulty water meter. JOHANNESBURG - A two-and-a-half-year fight against a multi-million-rand municipal bill has ended in victory for a Johannesburg pensioner and restaurant owner. More than R2.6-million has been credited to Jenny-Lee Bot's account after a Public Protector investigation revealed a faulty water meter. Bot's billing nightmare began after her water bill rose from just over a thousand rand to hundreds of thousands in just one month. Initially, the city blamed a leak at her three-bedroom Fourways property, which she had been renting out. But plumbers who were called in to inspect found nothing, and the volumes being billed were staggering. 'One of the reports I looked at said it was the equivalent of 50 Olympic-size pools. And if that volume of water had been leaking, there would be a sinkhole in my property,' Bot detailedAs she fought the charges for two and a half years, her municipal debt climbed to nearly R3-million. 'It's been so difficult. I have been sick. I have lost weight. When the bank came and said, you're in arrears with the bond; we're going to repossess the house, I was like I can't even sell this house because there isn't enough equity to sell to try and pay back this ludicrous water bill. "It honestly was the toughest two years of my life. It made me want to pack up everything and leave Joburg. 'The meter was eventually tested and found to be faulty. Although Jenny-Lee Bot eventually resolved her dispute, her ordeal highlights deep systemic flaws in how billing errors are managed and the extreme lengths ratepayers must go to for justice. Managing Director of Joburg Community Action Network , Julia Fish such issues have long existed. 'This should have been resolved by the municipal services trading reforms where they took back the billing. ' Johannesburg Water admits Bot was incorrectly billed, but says it never received her initial meter-test application. It maintains the matter could have been resolved through normal customer-service channels without the Public Protector's intervention.