‘Do they check Box numbers?’

FOLLOWING the article in the Vryheid Herald two weeks ago, about discarded municipal accounts hugely in arrears, a Vryheid resident asks the question: “When someone gives a PO Box number as an address, does the municipality actually check that the number belongs to the consumer?”

The resident, who prefers to remain anonymous, says that for a long time he has been getting a municipal account in his post box which is for someone else. He does not know the person, a FP Mabaso, has never known such a person, has never employed such a person.

The resident says that he has advised the municipality that FP Mabaso does not receive post via the resident’s post box, but month after month, he gets FP Mabaso’s account in his box.

This month he opened it.

The street address is given as “Morgenrood B134”, and while the account does not reflect any services’ connection or consumption, it does have a charge for rates and interest, current, and arrears for 30 days, for 60 days, for 90 days and for 120+ days.

It appears that FP Mabaso has accumulated an account of R4,872.06, of which only R156.64 is current.

It would appear that given the amount charged for rates monthly, nothing has been paid on the account for over three years.

It is not known if a consumer can deny responsibility for an account if he or she can stand up and say, “Yes but, I never received an account”. But that might be FP Mbaso’s excuse.

Nor is it known what efforts the municipality has made so far to recover this debt, and the debts of other consumers that total now over R100-million.

But it was announced in August that the municipality had entered into an agreement with a company called BIGEN AFRICA which was to attempt to recover monies owed.

We wonder how they will officially contact people like FP Mabaso?