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The City of Johannesburg\u2019s two core billing systems are offline, and its customer services centres stopped accepting payments on Monday (2 February).<\/p>\n
It is understood that all payments made in the past two weeks (since 19 January) are not reflecting on the city\u2019s systems or its self-service e-Joburg portal.<\/p>\n
Read:
Don\u2019t blame us for Joburg mess \u2013\u00a0SAP [Feb 2011]
CoJ loses two more high court incorrect billing cases [Oct 2025]<\/p>\n
The systems, one that manages billing and the other, Venus, which accepts payments, are part of the city\u2019s sprawling SAP enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.<\/p>\n
Ward 117 Councillor Tim Truluck says both systems are \u201ccompletely down\u201d.<\/p>\n
\nPayments can still be made via online banking or banking apps as well as through EasyPay at supermarket tills (including Shoprite Checkers and Pick n Pay) across the country.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Truluck suggests that residents and businesses keep all proof of payments, should they be necessary down the line.<\/p>\n
The city\u2019s e-Joburg portal shows zero payments on any statements for the past two years and no payments at all under any account\u2019s payment history.<\/p>\n
Given this, it appears as if the interface between the two systems is broken, meaning that all receipts in the payment system are not synchronised with the billing engine.<\/p>\n
A source who is familiar with ERP implementations suggests that the systems have been taken offline to avoid inaccurate penalties and\/or interest being automatically charged on accounts in early February for \u2018missed\u2019 payments.<\/p>\n
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\nConsidering the scale of the problem \u2013 it affects more than 1.5 million accounts \u2013 this will likely take some time to fix.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
CoJ will have to reconcile all historical payments as well as those made since 19 January. Only then will customers have a more accurate view of their standing.<\/p>\n
Read:
CoJ criticised in another billing dispute judgment
Joburg high court lambastes CoJ for \u2018abuse of power\u2019
Unlawful electricity disconnection earns punitive cost order for CoJ and City Power
Waterfall Country Estate wins case against CoJ over R10.3m penalties<\/p>\nIt is almost certain that this systems issue will cause a delay in February\u2019s municipal bills.\u00a0Truluck says that if bills aren\u2019t issued by the middle of this month, residents should pay their \u201caverage bill plus 5%\u201d.<\/p>\n
However, this can be tricky given that consumption charges for electricity and water tend to fluctuate a fair amount from month to month. This problem is exacerbated for larger, commercial users.<\/p>\n
More than a year since the city\u2019s SAP upgrade \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n
A botched upgrade of the city\u2019s SAP system in December 2024 and January 2025 saw many core city services unavailable for more than two weeks.<\/p>\n
Read:
SA tries to recover over R400m\u00a0from SAP for \u2018unlawful\u2019 contracts [Aug 2020]
SAP rollout bungle costs Spar R1.6bn [Nov 2023]<\/p>\nAt the time, it said the \u201cCity of Johannesburg\u2019s Group Information and Communication Technology (GICT) Department is set to embark on a significant upgrade of its SAP System\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis upgrade is\u00a0essential for stabilising the City\u2019s enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and enhanc[ing] the overall efficiency of services rendered to our valued customers. The primary objectives of this upgrade include improving the quality of municipal bills and the reliance on meter reading estimations, thereby enhancing customer experience and service delivery.\u201d<\/p>\n
By the planned date of completion (6 January 2025), the upgrade had not been finalised and the city\u2019s SAP systems remained offline for a number of days thereafter. This saw a delay in January billing.<\/p>\n
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Other services?<\/strong><\/p>\n
It is not known whether other city systems running on SAP are affected.<\/p>\n
These include, but are not limited to, applications for new services\/connections, issuing of clearance certificates, refund requests, the opening of new accounts and the registration\/transfer of properties.<\/p>\n
\nGiven the severity of the issue, it is likely that most services are currently unavailable.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The issue also means the city will have to pause its disconnections of services to residents and businesses that have unpaid bills as it simply has no way of accurately confirming any amounts owing.<\/p>\n
Under Project Lokisa, Joburg has been intensifying its revenue collection efforts through high-profile \u2018disconnection drives\u2019 in recent months.<\/p>\n
Read:
Ramokgopa weighs in on resolving Joburg\u2019s electricity billing dispute
CoJ faces renewed power cuts threat as Eskom debt dispute resurfaces<\/p>\nIn October, it targeted 20 \u201cchronic\u201d defaulting accounts, primarily industrial and commercial consumers, who owed a total of R100 million to City Power and Johannesburg Water.<\/p>\n
The city did not respond to a request for comment, or detailed questions.<\/p>\n
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