Thousands of Tshwane residents billed for waste services they already pay for will see accounts corrected, city confirms.
It was two steps forward and three back for the residents in Tshwane as confusion over the so-called illegal cleaning levy continues.
City spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said the city has identified an anomaly while configuring the billing system for the implementation of the new tariff.
“The cleansing tariff, which was introduced on 1 July, applies to properties not using the city’s waste collection services, for example, estates or complexes that use private service providers through their body corporates.
Tshwane promises to fix billing errors
“During the configuration, the city realised the system led to some residents in estates/complexes, who already receive municipal waste collection, to be incorrectly charged.”
Mashigo said the city was attending to these cases and would correct all affected accounts.
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DA Tshwane caucus leader Cilliers Brink said the DA’s pushback against high bills confirms Tshwane’s billing crisis.
“In what is a victory for already overburdened municipal consumers, the metro has admitted to double-billing residents who already use the city’s weekly waste collection service by means of the so-called cleansing levy.
“On the city’s version, the levy is not intended for households that already pay upward of R400 a month for weekly waste collection. Yet thousands of these accounts have been charged an additional R223 for cleansing.”
Mess caused by ANC/EFF/ActionSA – DA
Brink said the city has committed to reversing this system error which, in reality, was the mess caused by an ANC/EFF/ActionSA coalition determined to shake down residents without actually improving services.
“A written answer by mayor Nasiphi Moya to my DA colleague Marika Kruger-Muller has since confirmed that no expenditure has been allocated to the levy,” Brink added.
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