Pretoria - The City of Tshwane does not give institutions such as embassies and government departments leeway with regard to the payment of utility bills.
Acting chief of staff Jordan Griffiths was reacting to comments by residents who questioned if the City punished these institutions for non-payment.
Lotus, Atteridgeville and Saulsville Civic Association chairperson Tshepo Mahlangu said the City was not serious about collecting revenue. If it was then it would not allow government departments and embassies to owe it millions of rand.
He said their communities were full of underprivileged residents, and there were still a lot of homes dependent on pensioners, making it unfair for those people to have their services disconnected when they could not pay, while embassies and government departments owed millions.
Griffiths, however, said: “That is not true. The City has cut power to multiple government departments, even military bases, ministerial households and embassies.”
Mahlangu said the community had a meeting at Maunde Park over the weekend where the matter was discussed.
“Regrettably, the officials from the City of Tshwane did not show up after confirming their attendance, but the police and the Gauteng Community Safety Department attended.
“Ratepayers said enough was enough about being bullied and harassed by the City. They demand accountability from the City. They vowed to lay criminal charges against inefficient officials who disrespect the ratepayers, especially senior citizens.
“If the City is serious about revenue collection and paying its R635 million debt to Eskom, then they should start by switching off electricity and water from embassies and government departments who owe the City millions. We are tired of being victims.”
City spokesperson Selby Bokaba said in November that the City’s burgeoning debtors’ book from government departments, embassies and entities owing to non-payment of municipal services had reached a staggering R1.2bn. He said this debt made it difficult for the City to fulfil its obligation of delivering essential basic services to its residents and customers.
The City was disconnecting users in arrears with the municipality on property rates, water and electricity.
Pretoria News