POLOKWANE – Disgruntled residents from Disteneng converged outside the Polokwane Municipality offices on Monday to protest what they described as excessive municipal service charges, saying they are being billed for services beyond their actual use.

The residents criticised the municipality’s billing structures and demanded immediate relief from fixed utility costs, saying high service fees are pushing vulnerable households into debt as the municipality continues with its credit-control and electricity-disconnection drive across Polokwane.

Based on their demands, the residents want their outstanding debt to be written off.

Municipality receives memorandum

Member of the mayoral committee for community safety, Joosuf Pemma, received the memorandum on behalf of the municipality.

He told the media that the complaint centred on billing queries and electricity meter boxes that are allegedly not properly connected in some homes.

“On behalf of the municipality, I have received the memorandum of grievances and we will duly investigate and we will respond to them within the timeline,” Pemma said.

He said he noticed the memorandum did not include contact details when he signed for it and requested the information to ensure the municipality could respond directly to the community.

Challenges date back to 2019

Residents said their challenges date back to 2019 and had previously been raised with the municipality without receiving adequate assistance.

One resident said being registered for indigent programmes, which provide a portion of free water and electricity, had not resolved the problem. The resident also said attempts to pay off some of the debt had failed to address the issue.

“After paying off a larger part of the debt and leaving a smaller one, it only unveils some more in the next month,” the resident said.

“I cannot comment on 2019. I don’t know if the ward councillor has actually raised the matter with the relevant committee,” Pemma said.

Residents want a response by Friday

Residents want a response from the municipality by tomorrow.

Pemma said he was confident the municipality would respond by the deadline, but ruled out a blanket debt write-off.

“I’m confident that we will be able to respond by Friday. But as we all know there are billing issues; we cannot say we will just write off anybody’s account. One needs to look into the merits of each individual account,” he said.