NEWCASTLE – Residents who default on their municipal accounts will face the consequences.
This is the message from Customer Relations Manager at the municipality, Doctor Dumisani Thabethe given at the Council meeting on February 1.
According to municipal records, a total of R14.5-million is still outstanding in debt collection.
The guilty parties are cautioned by the municipality, that stringent measures will be taken to enforce these collections.
“Defaulters will be identified and the Technical Services are instructed to issue notifications and begin the restriction process,” said Customer Relations Manager at the municipality, Doctor Dumisani Thabethe.
500 restriction notification letters have already been issued by the municipality since last week.
“Whether you are the Municipal Manager or a business man, if you are identified as a defaulter, restrictions will be enforced,” warned Dr Thabethe.
In a presentation at the council meeting, Dr Thabathe illustrated the process plan of the water restrictions.
“A contractor will be appointed and a reduction of 15 – 20 litres of water per minute, depending on the size of the pipe will be restricted. It could be further reduced to one litre per minute.”
For defaulters, this could mean it would take one minute to fill-up a litre of water. This could make their very difficult.
Furthermore, Dr Thabethe stated each defaulter could soon see their name published in the media and along with the outstanding amounts.
He encouraged political buy-in by Ward Councillors to aid in the collection of the recurring debt.
Contingency plans are already in place should any challenges arise.
“We foresee customer resistance, as well as intimidation of employees and disputed accounts, all of which will be dealt with by an appeal and complaints team. We are here to solve the issues of the public,” concluded Dr Thabethe.
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