The ANC caucus in Ekurhuleni says that households are struggling to pay their debts and that the municipality must step in and relieve the poor of three quarters of their outstanding municipal bills.

ANC whip in Ekurhuleni, Jongizizwe Dlabathi, said a memorandum handed over to the municipality, was directed at mayor Tania Campbell as well as the MMC for finance, the head of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) at the municipality and the economic development department.

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

“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 says.

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,” says Dlabathi.

He added the total outstanding debt from debtors in the city, as of December 31, 2021, 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 for the previous terms and historical debts that are over 90 days.

When the ANC coalition government was in charge of the city from 2016 to 2021, they wrote off  almost R1b in debt in 2019.