Joburg Advocacy Group

Joburg Advocacy Group (JAG): September 2009

Thursday, 24 September 2009

Comment on Improving Government Performance Green Paper

Government has just released a Green Paper entitled "Improving Government Performance", and is asking for comments from the South African public. This is a chance to really have your say.

Check out the document here, and mail your comments to mamothe@po.gov.za in The Presidency.

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About Us

A Fresh Approach to Advocacy in the City of Johannesburg

The Joburg Advocacy Group (JAG) is an independent, non-aligned and voluntary civil society advocacy group working for best practice governance, social justice and environmental protection in the City of Johannesburg.

For more information, click here.

PLEASE NOTE: The Joburg Advocacy Group aims to empower residents to take action on their own behalf in matters relating to local government or service delivery, either as individuals or through residents' associations and civil society groups. As a small, voluntary group we are unable to assist with individual complaints.

Please contact your ward councillor should you need assistance with service delivery matters. Should the city's list of ward councillors be unavailable, you can search for your councillor's contact details on the IEC's web site.

"No person is your friend who demands your silence ..."
- Alice Walker: Novelist, Poet and Social Commentator

Log a Complaint

Information last updated 20 April 2018

If you have a billing dispute or a problem with service delivery, the first course of action is to log a complaint with the city's call centre, Joburg Connect on either 011 375 5555 or 0860 JOBURG (0860 56 2874).

Please insist on an 8000 reference number and follow up on your complaint regularly.

Joburg Connect can be reached by e-mail on joburgconnect@joburg.gov.za, but this service is extremely unreliable and we recommend that you call to log a complaint instead.

Note that the call centre is very busy during the day and the early evenings, as well as on Saturday mornings. It is, however, a 24/7/365 call centre, so if you can't get through during office hours, try calling at off-peak times, especially if you have a query about your account. Note that complaints for certain city agencies, such as Pikitup and Joburg Roads Agency, can only be logged during office hours.

If you're unable to get your dispute resolved or to have your service delivery issue problem addressed within 30 days, visit your local Customer Service Centre personally (locate yours here) and don't move until you get someone to help you resolve your issue. This takes time, but it's often the next best step. Residents have had mixed results at the service centres, but if you can get a supervisor to assist you, you may be able to get your issue resolved without any further difficulty.

Further, you can contact your ward councillor for assistance, but note that ward councillors are only able to assist if you already have an 8000 Joburg Connect complaint reference number. Should the city's list of ward councillors be unavailable, you can search for your councillor's contact details on the IEC's web site.

In addition, you have the option of logging a complaint with the National Consumer Commission. We haven't had much success with the NCC but this is a route available to residents who might like to try it out. Unfortunatley, the NCC has removed its online complaints form, but you can download a form from the site and post it or deliver it to your nearest NCC office. Alternatively, the person to contact for consumer complaints in the Gaunteng region is: Reuben Sedibane (011 355 8000/8648/consumer@gauteng.gov.za).

You may also like to send an e-mail, giving the details of your issue, to Anna Cox of The Star's Metrowatch (annacox@icon.co.za). The Star has a good record of success in managing to get consumer issues resolved.

Finally, residents with unresolved billing disputes and service delivery complaints can log a complaint with the Presidential Hotline on 17737 or by mailing president@po.gov.za. Sadly, this seems to be easier said than done, as many residents report not being able to get through to the hotline, but it's worth trying.

Most importantly, don't be bullied into paying an inflated bill that can't be justified. There is a court order in place restraining the city from cutting power to residents who have active billing complaints or disputes with the city. Print this out and, if the city does attempt to terminate your services while you have an active complaint in the system, call the SAPS - and don't allow the technicians to leave your premises until the officers arrive. You have a right to lodge a complaint of harassment in a case like this and to have the matter investigated by the police.

Contact the National Consumer Commission

The new Consumer Protection Act came into effect on 1 April 2011, and both metros and high-capacity municipalities are covered by it.

The National Consumer Commission deals with individual consumer complaints relating to both products and services, and can be contacted by telephone on 0860 266 786, by fax on 0861 515 229, or by e-mail on either ncc@thedti.gov.za or NNetshitomboni@thencc.co.za. We haven't had much success with the commission but, again, this is one of the options available to residents.

Contact the Public Protector

If you have a service delivery, environmental or social justice problem you're unable to resolve through the usual local structures (Joburg Connect, ward councillors and residents' associations), you can log a complaint with the Public Protector's office.

Call toll-free on 0800 11 20 40. Don't use the complaints form on the web site - it hasn't been working properly for some time.

"The mandate of the Public Protector is to strengthen constitutional democracy by investigating and redressing improper and prejudicial conduct, maladministration and abuse of power in state affairs; resolving administrative disputes or rectifying any act or omission in administrative conduct."

Contact the Green Scorpions

The Environmental Management Inspectorate, populary known as the 'Green Scopions' is tasked with monitoring and enforcing compliance with environmental legislation. The Inspectorate's can be contacted via its hotline on 0800 205 005 (national) or 011 240 3510 (Gauteng) or by mailing pi@toanon.co.za (national) or Green.Scorpions@gauteng.gov.za (Gauteng).

For more information on the inspectorate, click through here.

To report any environmental incidents, call the 24/7 Environmental Crimes and Incidents Hotline on 0800 205 005.

You can also call the Department of Environment Affairs' Call Centre on 086 111 2468.

Joburg Advocacy Group (JAG)

Thursday, 24 September 2009

Comment on Improving Government Performance Green Paper

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