UPDATE: Millions to be written off in metro debt
The metro will only know how much the final write-off will be by the end of next month.
The Tshwane metro will write off millions in water and sanitation debt if residents opt for a debt amnesty plan aimed at encouraging them to pay their current bills.
The debt write-off could be as much as R856-million.
The metro will, however, only have an idea of how much the final write-off will be by the end of next month.
The write-off is for debt made by poor residents in its so-called Mawiga zone.
“On 30 June 2018, the first assessment will be conducted to establish how all qualifying Mawiga municipal accounts will be affected,” finance Tshwane MMC Marie-Lise Fourie told Rekord.
The debt amnesty plan, announced in January, is aimed at getting residents to pay their current municipal bills for water and sanitation.
This amnesty is applicable only to residents living in the Sandspruit Works Association (SWA) area, namely Mabopane, Winterveld and Ga-Rankuwa.
How it works is simple: if you pay your bills for the next six months (starting January), then the metro will write off half of all your debt. If you pay all your bills for the next year, then the metro will write off all of your historic debt.
As an added incentive, the city has promised to improve service delivery in the area.
This will include, among other things, a R5-million project to replace sewer pipes.
Fourie told Rekord that the write-off was considered after residents claimed their accounts were inaccurately measured by SWA, the area’s previous service provider.
ALSO READ:
https://rekordnorth.co.za/127871/update-city-yet-to-decide-on-write-off/
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