Editor – As I have been out of town, I decided to pay my account on Saturday, also having received an SMS from the municipality.
The rates hall was packed with people, so I asked the employee sitting or sleeping in the cubicle where the cheque box was. He replied that there was no cheque box and that I must stand in the queue. On leaving, I saw that the main entrance of the building was open, so I asked the security lady whether there was any senior official in the building, as I wanted to enquire about the cheque box. She retorted, “No, go around”, and I wondered about the security and why the door was open.
Someone said he was going to try Protection Services, as it was already 11.45am, so I also went there. However, we were told that they were offline and that we should come back after 2pm. The person also told me that it took him half a day to renew his licence the previous day because, apparently, six of the employees did not report for duty. Could it become more crazy? I thought. I went back that afternoon at 3.30pm, only to be told they were offline until Monday. I stood outside for a while and remembered what someone had said the other day while the wind was blowing: “Did you see the municipality roll past?”
In any case, on Monday the cashier told me that the cheque box was still there and I could not see it because the hall was packed with people. There you have it!
PS: Hopefully, the municipality will roll back after councillors and senior officials have returned from their three-day excursion to the Drakensberg.
