Rigmarole at Lekwa to pay an account
As luck would have it, one worker behind the counter for indigent registration, could not help and pointed to the next cubicle.
To settle a municipal account sometimes takes its pound of flesh.
Telephone calls to Lekwa Municipality’s account division proved fruitless the past week as the calls went unanswered or they were offline.
By this time, one resident had noticed that queues after 11:00 were not as long and decided to go and pay at the office.
The local was in conversation with DA-councillor Alberto Franco outside and he accompanied her inside the pay hall on February 8.
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A quick mention that she has tried to get the figure sent to her via email in the past, to no avail.
By this time, she was savvy enough to know to line up for enquiries since no accounts, at another cubicle, can be paid without a number for a specific amount.
As luck would have it, one worker behind the counter for indigent registration, could not help and pointed to the next cubicle.
Nobody was behind the counter and the fact relayed to the employee.
“You must wait,” was the curt reply.
Franco left her side and told the employee that he was going higher up.
About seven minutes passed and the worker for enquiries arrived, braids swinging and sat behind the counter.
The enquiry was settled and then it was off to the line for payments. That went smooth enough and the card machine worked.
When asked what should be done to receive the account via email, the friendly woman pointed to the enquiries desk.
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The Standerton Advertiser sent questions via WhatsApp to Lekwa’s communications officer, Thando Nkosi, the next day.
Why can’t the computer programme at the payment desk be adjusted to handle an account query?
Why are some of the desks for instance those for buying prepaid electricity without a soul in sight on some days?
Why can a national retail store manage to accept card payments for prepaid electricity and not the municipality?
By all accounts, no pun intended, Lekwa is strapped for cash.
