Local pensioner concerned about high municipal account
Her biggest concern is that she might lose her house she has been paying since 1985
Dr Olga Suberg, living in Campbell Street, is frustrated because she is receiving costly municipal bills. This is after the Ekurhuleni metro allegedly made a mistake on her account.
The pensioner explained the problem started about a year ago after the metro told her that her account was in credit.
“We paid our account in full every month until the municipality made a mistake and fixed it by crediting our account. They advised us not to pay until the credit ended and sent us an account with a minus sign on it to show that we’re in credit,” she said.
Suberg said they immediately started to pay the metro once the credit was over. Then they found out that their account is in arrears because it was never in credit.
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“When we started to pay our account again, we noticed that they began to charge us with interest of approximately R5 000 every month and our account is over now R55 000 overdue. Our account wasn’t in credit and now the municipality is expecting us pay for all the months we thought we were in credit. It seems that the more we pay, the higher the amount interest and we simply can’t afford to pay it. I have a small pension. There are three units in the complex and we all have to contribute towards the bill.”
Her biggest concern is that she might lose her house she has been paying since 1985.
“I’m afraid that the municipality might cut off our municipal services or sell our house to cover the costs. It’s in their right to do so. The municipality doesn’t want to admit their mistake. We just want them to fix the mistake on our account. We don’t want to pay for the months we were in credit.”
Suberg highlighted that the matter was reported numerous times and Ward 32 councillor Marius de Vos accompanied her to the metro’s offices in December 2019.
“The municipality told the woman that her account was in credit but it not reflect on the system. She was convinced that her account was in credit but now she has to use her savings to cover the costs,” said de Vos.
He added the resident should try and make an arrangement with the metro to pay off the account.
“These type of issues should be solved as soon as possible,” he said.
The Advertiser is awaiting comment from the metro.
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