The Tshwane Metro is celebrating a ‘historic financial achievement’ as they announced they surpassed the R4-billion mark in revenue collection for the first time in its history.

Deputy mayor and MMC for finance Eugene Modise described the milestone as proof of the city’s ‘commitment to excellence, accountability, and sustainable growth’.

According to Modise, the city collected R4.088-billion in October, exceeding both its funding plan target and projected forecast.

“This success is a direct outcome of focused efforts to modernise financial systems, strengthen governance, and build a culture of accountability,” he said.

Modise added that the improved performance “lays the foundation for better service delivery and infrastructure investment”.

However, the announcement has been met with scepticism and frustration from opposition parties and residents who accuse the metro of celebrating prematurely amid ongoing billing disputes and the still-contentious city cleansing levy.

DA spokesperson for Tshwane Jacqui Uys said, “The metro is using residents as cash cows. It’s quite a slap in the face of Tshwane residents who were incorrectly billed and then threatened with disconnection if they didn’t pay those incorrect bills.”

Uys said that while the R4-billion milestone might look impressive, it is ‘a premature success’.

“The city should first ensure all billing errors are corrected.

“What they are celebrating is largely driven by massive tariff increases on rates, water, and electricity, not by improved collection efficiency,” she said.

Uys pointed out that the metro’s overall collection rate has dropped from 93% to 80%, suggesting that fewer residents are actually managing to pay their bills.

“People are simply unable to afford the increases. Those who can pay are being used as cash cows to keep the system afloat,” she said.

Despite repeated assurances from the city that double-billing linked to the cleansing levy would be corrected in November, Uys said residents are still seeing duplicate charges. “The city is not keeping its word,” she said. “They promised to fix it in October, then November, and still, nothing has changed.”

Freedom Front Plus councillor Grandi Theunissen echoed the criticism, arguing that the R4-billion figure does not necessarily reflect genuine income.

“You can play with statistics, but in real terms, the question is whether that money was actually collected and deposited or whether it’s based on billing.

“There are still too many unanswered questions,” he said.

Theunissen also criticised the metro’s ongoing use of credit control measures against residents who have disputed their bills.

“That’s totally irresponsible. The metro’s own credit control policy says you can’t disconnect services while a dispute is active, yet residents are being penalised,” he added.

In Sunrise View Retirement Village, residents say they have been harassed over charges linked to the city cleansing levy, despite a court ruling that declared the fee unlawful and illegal in September.

Resident Peppi Kruger said senior citizens have been left anxious after receiving letters of demand and threats of disconnection.

“They are not allowed to collect or threaten people over something the court has ruled illegal. It’s in poor taste and deeply unfair,” Kruger said.

Ward councillor Lida Erasmus said that the metro appealed the court’s decision on September 22 but insisted that any money collected before that date ‘is illegal’.

“Celebrating R4-billion in collections is premature if the city must refund residents for the illegal levy.

“I am not confident that the amount was collected lawfully and likely includes those illegal charges,” Erasmus said.

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