Mayor talks assessment rates

Assessment rates will not be charged to residents of Man­kweng, as the land allegedly does not belong to the residents, but to Kgoshi Mamabolo, as claimed by Polokwane Executive Mayor Thembi Nkadimeng at a media briefing on Thursday on the issue of Mankweng and the residents’ non-payment of municipal rates.
She said land value cannot be charged as the residents are not the owners of the land and many areas have not been proclaimed as townships. She said full deed verifications must be done first. She also said residents of Mankweng cannot even sell their houses, because of the lack of title deeds and the problems it causes, as banks would not lend money or give bonds to prospective houses in Mankweng.
A deeds search however of houses sold the last two years in Mankweng Zones A, B, C and E, has shown properties and erven sold, receiving bonds from banks for up to a million Rand, with prices up to a R1 000 000 and even R1 625 000 for a property.
All of the listed properties had deeds and thus according to law, had to pay assessment rates, as such rates have to be paid on all property valued above R100 000. Title deeds could even be found of properties sold as far back as 1884.
Nkadimeng held another meeting with the violence-torn community the evening before and said she hoped billing problems had been sorted out.
She said the community had to pay for services such as water, sewerage removal and refuse, but a flat rate will be charged as many of the erven in the area do not have water meters. The rate will be negotiated with residents. Nkadimeng said it was one of the repercussions of the Group Areas Act and the injustices of the past that areas have not been proclaimed. She also said that some of the areas in the outskirts of Seshego are also not registered in the names of the residents.
She said it was a legal matter, as assessment rates cannot be charged if a property is not registered in the name of a specific owner and that it was necessary to get an assessment of the township planning, as some areas are zoned as a sports complex, for instance, but now there are houses built on that land and the kgoshis also own some land.
She said Mamabolo said Man­kweng was his land and thus the land value cannot be charged until a full deeds verification has been done. Alpheus Sehlapelo, advisor to Mamabolo on Wednesday confirmed that the Mankweng land does belong to the kgoshi.
The issue of paying for water and electricity will be solved when the smart meter system will be rolled out as from the beginning of April. Residents can regulate themselves and their use of water, for instance, as it would work on a prepaid basis.
For now she said the smart card cannot be rolled out with a debt to begin with and that is why interest on accounts of residents would be scrapped and a rebate of 40% given on the remaining amount.
Of the remaining amount a down payment of 30% must be made and arrangements made to pay off the remainder.
Nkadimeng said only households would form part of this arrangement, as for institutional sites and malls arrangements have been made. Some businesses and institutions have already been cut off.
A resident of Mankweng however said he receives his municipal bill every month and pays it, with assessment rates. According to him, certain people just refuse to pay, and they are being soft soaped because of the local elections coming up.
A follow-up meeting between the municipality and Mangkweng residents is scheduled for 9 and 10 March.

Story: NELIE ERASMUS
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