THE eThekwini council recently published their 2018 draft budget for public inspection and discussion.
Having gone through the details I am truly shocked at how shallow and manipulative their thinking is towards the elderly.
For those of you who have been affected by their previous financial antics let me remind you of what has taken place over the last six months.
Firstly, some six months ago they reduced the “trigger point” in order for a pensioner to qualify for a rebate on the value of a pensioner’s house from R3 million down to R2 million.
This meant that thousands of pensioners no longer qualified for their rebate. This was done in spite of the fact that natural inflation on property prices reflected that the “trigger point” should have been increased not decreased.
Following a huge outcry from affected pensioners the brains trust at City Hall have now increased the “trigger point” value on a property in order to qualify from R2 million to R4 million.
However there is a new obstacle – pensioners will only benefit from this increased “trigger point” value if their total family pension is less than R7 000 per month.
Question: Who can afford to live in a R4 million house earning R7 000 per month or less? This is a ridiculous decision and once again is clearly targeted at a particular sector of the community.
It is time for all affected pensioners to put their hands up and say enough is enough, away with these racist policies.
Take care of the elderly and remove the restriction on pensionable earnings in it’s entirety.
Pensioners have worked hard all of their lives (and paid rates) throughout their lives and now instead of being targeted should be protected by the officials elected to run local government.
Shame on you eThekwini councillors.
Dave Marshall
Hillcrest
