When local authorities publicly confessed that the billing department was not rendering exceptional customer service, it was a sign that city council might be changing the course of its clandestine political game.
How good it was to finally hear the truth about the litany of billing discrepancies. Certainly it proves that Punchline’s and the ratepayers’ noises about this problem were right all along. And in this Punchline commends the mayor and his team for at last speaking out about the Revenue & Customer Department’s escapades and other related problems.
Incorrect billing has been a topical issue and will remain one for as long as administrators fail to carry out their jobs efficiently. The very building I write from has sat under a cloud of erroneous billing, unresolved for more than a year. Hopefully an honest explanation and just resolution will now be delivered.
If city council is now on a new tack with its billing, ratepayers must give it the benefit of doubt and wait for delivery on promises made.
And in future local authorities must set the record straight upfront or face the wrath of the public and the media finish and klaar.
citybeat@caxton.co.za

It’s no secret that city council’s erroneous billing blues are far from over. Last month Punchline suggested it was time for city council to accept it was nowhere near righting the billing errors that beset residents week in and week out.
But to date it has not done so. Punchline noted that in the past months the debacle reached a point where rumours were doing the rounds that dirty employees intentionally manipulated the system to collect
whatever money wherever it could by overcharging some ratepayers because others weren’t paying.
Candidly speaking this may be construed as a well-planned scheme of defrauding ratepayers’ pockets or simple daylight robbery.
One irritating thing about this whole issue is that if you dare raise any questions with the authorities during the press briefing on this matter, they try to play it down with a smile as if it’s no big deal.
Believe it or not, at one stage a high profile city official told Punchline the issue was blown out of proportion by the media.
He went on to say that  99 percent of bills including households and business properties were correct.
But complaints that inundate our news desk tell a different picture.
There is enough evidence that this problem is far from over. Erroneous billing is fast becoming the biggest hot potato.
It’s even scared off township residents who want to move to the suburbs for a better life.
Maybe it’s high time why council administrators face the axe.
After all this is government language for those failing to deliver services.
Surely if the matter goes to court council will start acting like greased lightning finish and klaar.
citybeat@caxton.co.za

Punchline is bewildered. Surely an award is for nothing less than an accomplishment with distinction?
Hence the confusion when an award was given to the much maligned city council revenue department for accomplishment with distinction in its implementation of one billing system run off a single IT platform (SAP).
One of the most under-performing departments in the municipality has miraculously excelled itself?
A highly questionable achievement for those up to date with civic politics.
What makes the honour more astonishing is this multimillion rand Project Phakama is seen in some quarters as the sole cause of erroneous billing and interim meter reading, causing a delay in monthly bills.
Just last week, the very same department was exposed for a bungle during the roll-out of Project Phakama that saw only 400 000 out of
960 000 Joburg households receive interim meter readings.
A massive blunder that will continue to set tongues wagging.
In the case of this award, even more flummoxing, is who played judge?
To avoid more flak an explanation is demanded, finish and klaar.
citybeat@caxton.co.za

In the past, city council apparatchiks have slammed news on the instability of their financial affairs.
They have done so despite evidence presented by the Democratic Alliance (DA), showing a worrying trend in inadequate collection of rates and taxes payments, which in the normal course of events would be followed by an inability to deliver required services.
In its defence, city council have cited its three unqualified audit reports in three successive years. Translated from business language into plain speak, this means their books are in order. Given the fact that at least one of the audits was conducted by Auditor-General Terence Nombembe, Punchline gave city council the benefit of the doubt. So, for now, let’s assume the audit reports were not cooked.
However, recent reports made by the DA that only 400 000 Joburg households out of 960 00 received interim meter readings (inaccurate though they may be) would seem to point to wrong billing as the order of the day. Apparently this was precipitated by the roll-out of the new multimillion rand IT system Project Phakama. Phakama is meant to be a user-friendly, integrated system, ensuring up to date, accurate billing. So much for that.
Punchline has dealt with so many cases of wrong billing that it has lost count, and only a few of these have been successfully resolved.
City council’s answer to frantic residents faced with  crazy bills is pay now, sort out the query later.
Please, someone explain the reasons for the inaccurate interim meter readings before Punchline gives Project Phakama a red card, finish and klaar.

citybeat@caxton.co.za

The announcement by the city council that former taxi bosses will now own 100 percent of the bus operating company, Clidet, that will run and control the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Rea Vaya for phase 1A, is good news.
But the fact that city council and the new owners are reluctant to disclose the finer details concerning how much they stand to benefit from this business leaves a big question mark.
One can only hope that this is a good business deal that won’t turn sour soon, due to some bosses surrendering their taxis to the City of Joburg in exchange for shares in the company. Another concern is that no one has mentioned anything about who is going to be in charge of what, when and how they are going to take the bus company to greater heights.
Commuters can only hope that the local authority really means what it says and has done extensive research on this deal hailed as an historic milestone.
Commuters expect nothing less than quality public transport that is safe, fast, efficient and affordable, as promised every day by all spheres of government.
Here is to hoping that drivers and owners will run these quality buses efficiently and professionally and keep them clean and roadworthy at all times, failing which the city council will have to take back ownership. To those taxi owners who are still against BRT it’s time for introspection. Johannesburg is one of the fastest growing African world class cities and needs public transport transformation finish and klaar.
citybeat@caxton.co.za

It’s common knowledge that traffic officers are employed, among other things, to inspect licences, examine vehicles and be traffic wardens. Often they do just the opposite.
Of late they have a tendency to stand in a group next to a traffic light, generally one out of order, giving the impression there is a serious problem.
But instead of controlling the flow they mill about with hands in pockets, while motorists slow down, under the impression there is an accident or roadblock.
Punchline also notes with much irritation that traffic officers tend to have three different stop and checks along one road so that the poor motorist stands the chance of going through the same rigmarole of licence inspection and car search every 200 metres or so.
Punchline was caught up in this very inconvenience while rushing to an important assignment.
What irks is that some officers don’t even greet you, and just stop and order you out of the car like a common criminal. Even more vexatious is the explanation for this from authorities, that some officers are fresh out of college.
All this does is beg the question, what are they taught at the academy? This sort of behaviour could also lead to many believing that the allegations of corruption and nepotism recently levelled at the academy by two students are true.
Motorists expect nothing but respect. And if this can’t be done guilty traffic officers need to return to the academy to learn about customer relations finish and klaar.
citybeat@caxton.co.za

There are damning revelations that some board members and consultants of Blue IQ have milked the agency of millions of rands.

Thousands of homeless people endure the shackles of poverty, and some only eat once a day.
The money could be better spent  alleviating their plight instead of enriching selfish unscrupulous consultants.
Not long ago Punchline featured a multi-million rand tender irregularity in the transport department.
The response from Premier Nomvula Mokonyane was that the 350-page dossier containing details of these corrupt dealings was fowarded to the Presidency and relevant institutions competent to conduct further investigation, and if necessary take appropriate action.
To date we haven’t heard a word, and it looks like this might be the last time we hear of it.
Knowing government, these people might not be punished and the person who paid them their millions will still keep his job and get promoted.
The  latest  shenanigans have cost taxpayers a total of R4.1 million in one year.
The biggest worry is that one of the board members is alleged to  have charged R20 000 for every meeting she attended, while another took home R693 000 that was not rightfully his.
Now the question remains, how much is it worth to attend a high profile board meeting in government circles?
This money could have been used for fixing potholes, building houses for people in informal settlements or fixing one dilapidated building in the city centre to house dozens of vagrants who pay R5 a night to sleep in inner city hovels.
But there are always bags of good money going bad and the corruption conundrum is still the story of our lives.
If government fails to act they might earn themselves a flip-flop nickname finish and klaar.
citybeat@caxton.co.za

History was made last weekend at the rugby showdown between the Bulls and New Zealand outfit the Crusaders at South Africa’s soccer mecca, Orlando stadium in Soweto.
To take this Super 14 semi-final to the township was a good idea but the timing was bad, and a major traffic hiccup on the day proved a challenge for traffic officers. How do you schedule a game of that magnitude a few kilometres from a soccer cup final billed as the real test for the newly refurbished Soccer City stadium?
Many who attended spent six hours on the road in gridlocked traffic, and if this was the readiness test it’s time to return to the drawing board, and fast. But Punchline will give traffic authorities and soccer administrators the benefit of the doubt as there was no park and ride.
Cause for concern are the statements before soccer matches that tickets are sold out. Last week we were informed that all tickets for the  match at the calabash last Saturday had been snapped up, as was the case when Bafana Bafana played Thailand at the Bombela stadium in Nelspruit. But a number of seats were empty at both matches, and to mislead the public and be left with half empty stands only means a stadium’s capacity has not been tested, finish and klaar.
citybeat@caxton.co.za

Nie Cele

It’s a matter of days before the 2010 Fifa World Cup is unleashed and many stand to benefit from the spending of hundreds of thousands of fans.
Across the board it seems everyone is geared for the soccer spectacle but what of the homeless people languishing in Joburg’s streets?  Can anybody explain how they are to benefit from the influx of the masses to their world class African City? Does anyone care? It would be very interesting to hear from authorities what’s in store for them and whether their plight will change for the better. I hope to be able to speak to some homeless people in the next week and get their views.
As Johannesburg’s Executive Mayor Amos Masondo puts it, “There is no doubt the city’s roads will be more congested during the tournament and people must take that into account when making travel arrangements.”
Masondo confirmed that the City of Johannesburg was ready for the soccer showpiece and that everyone was looking forward to travelling to the games safely and in style. Against this background we trust our traffic lights will function 100 percent and, if not, that our weather-shy traffic officers will work as pointsmen without any feeble excuses.
If traffic officers don’t come to the party we might end up acutely embarrassed in the eyes of world. And let’s not forget the foreign media will be on the hunt for any and every negative story in the country. There’s no question this show must be pulled off in style finish and klaar.

Punchline: Nie Cele

For Metro police to say it can’t assign pointsmen to control traffic jams in the rain because they won’t be visible is the lamest of excuses.
What’s wrong with the luminous jackets and rain suits the taxpayers’ bought for them?
While motorists are left to deal with gridlocks thanks to faulty lights, Punchline is also told there’s nothing to be done as 45 000 more cars hit Joburg roads every month.
But forget their absence come rain, the same officers are only too quick to slouch under trees in the heat.
What weather would they prefer to get on with the job? For the good they do they might as well be dispatched to the trenches to control the influx of illegal foreign nationals. But that wouldn’t work either as they’d flee for their lives in fear of the wild, leaving us with the same old question. If Metro police can’t do the job, who can?
The other day Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane said former Transport MEC, Ignatius Jacobs and his former head of department, Sbu Buthelezi were not off the hook.
This followed the release of the delayed 350-page report believed to contain serious allegations of multimillion rand tender irregularities in the provincial transport department.
Among other things the report revealed financial misconduct, the irregular appointment of service providers, and excessive payments.
It’s absurd for the Premier to say the report was forwarded to the Presidency and relevant institutions competent to conduct further investigation and, if necessary, take appropriate action.
Anyone who acted improperly must be punished now by provincial government. because if this report is fobbed off on the Presidency and others it might well be the last time we hear of it, finish and klaar.
citybeat@caxton.co.za