‘Metro milking the poor for cash’
The Tshwane metro's faulty billing system is a sign of serious cash-flow problems faced by the municipality is facing.
The Tshwane metro‘s flawed billing system is a sign of serious cash-flow problems, the DA said this week.
DA councillor Yolanda Duvenage said the metro’s cash-flow problems were so serious that it now had to target the poor to improve the situation.
Residents of Soshanguve was this month billed for the numerous water leaks that have been reported dozens of times but never got fixed.
Several of these poorest of the poor got the shock of their lives when they opened their utility bills this month.
“Estimates on their water accounts skyrocketed to between 45 and 60 kl water used for one month,” said Duvenage.
“These residents take exceptional care to use water sparingly because they cannot afford high water accounts and on average consume between 5 and 8kl of water per month.”
She said closer inspection of their water meters revealed that their consumption did not increase. It was still, on average, between 5 and 8kl for 30 days.
“This is a clear sign that Tshwane has such a serious problem that they now have to target the poorest people in the area in order to increase their cash flow,” said Duvenage.
She claimed that residents had now also become victims of greedy contractors.
They demand bribes of between R200 and R500 from the economically vulnerable to prevent their electricity being disconnected.
“Often the residents have to pay such bribes to avoid having to pay a reconnection fee of more than R600,” said Duvenage.
“The cherry on the proverbial cake, believe it or not, was the issuing of 240 litre waste bins in the same area.”
She said residents were not properly consulted or informed of the monthly costs of these bins, amounting to R243.90 per month.
Enquiries were made to the municipal offices in Block F, Soshanguve, it seemed residents had no choice in the matter.
“They will just have to come up with the additional R200 for the unwanted waste bins,” she said.
Soshanguve residents were quite adept at recycling, with many an informal entrepreneurs selling craft and practical items made from recycled material.
There simply was no need for bigger waste bins, said Duvenage.
“If one takes into consideration that households have to come up with between R800 to R1000 extra to pay their utility bills this month, one sees no fairness in Soshanguve.”
Duvenage said the DA would be outside the Falala shopping centre every Friday, between 16:00 and 18:00, for the rest of October and November to assist residents with billing issues.
“Residents in need of assistance, are invited to come and visit us with their bills and photos of their water meters,” she said.
“Where residents are not able to supply photos, they will be accompanied to their houses in order to take photos that will be submitted with their queries when these matters are addressed with the municipality.”
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