ANC Caucus calls for a 75% debt write-off for households

According to the ANC Whip in Ekurhuleni, Jongizizwe Dlabathi, the memorandum was directed to Mayor Tania Campbell, the MMC for Finance, the head of ICT, as well as the municipality’s Economic Development.

“The South African economy has been experiencing a slow growth and many households have lost income due to the impact of the pandemic,” said Dlabathi.

“The City of Ekurhuleni is not immune to the harsh economic conditions, which are urgently calling upon us to provide the much-needed interventions. Households have been in dire straits and struggling to service their debts, mainly because they have either no income or disposable income.”

He added that urgent debt relief is required given the current economic conditions.

“There is a clear indication that townships are burdened, significantly, by the ever-changing conditions of the economy coupled with the cost of living.

“Given the above, the residents of Ekurhuleni deserve a City that must continuously strive to provide urgent pro-poor interventions that bring about relief where necessary,” said Dlabathi in his statement to the media.

He added the total outstanding debt from debtors in the City, as of December 31, amounted to R23.4-billion. The debt of R18.9-b in arrears is for more than 90 days, which requires legal interventions in addition to physical credit control measures.

“The debt related to households, especially which is over 90 days, demonstrates a citizenry that is burdened by the cost of living in Ekurhuleni,” Dlabathi said.

During the ordinary council meeting held on January 27, the ANC Caucus called for a 75% debt write-off of all municipal accounts, particularly the previous terms and historical debts that are above 90 days. “

When the ANC coalition government was in charge of the City between the period of 2016 to 2021, during 2019 almost R1-b was written-off.