“We have not had our dustbins removed for almost two weeks,” says de Bruyn angrily, “but, every month, we are expected to pay R126 (which is an average of R34 a week) in levies for refuse removal.”
De Bruyn explains that the lack of effective service delivery has become an inconvenience and extra expense for him, as he finds himself having to dispose of his own refuse.
“I end up having to use my money and time to do what the metro is expected to,” he says.
“If I don’t do it, no one will – or we’ll wait for a long time for the metro to come.”
According to de Bruyn, the refuse in Geduld is scheduled to be removed every Wednesday, but that is hardly ever the case, instead, he finds himself having to wait for days before the metro workers arrive.
He feels that, if he has to do the metro’s job most of the time, he should not be expected to pay for services not rendered.
He says that, for every service not rendered to him, he should have the relative amount deducted from his monthly account.
“Why should I have to pay for the times that my refuse was not removed?” he asks.
“If they don’t deliver the services, then I refuse to pay those costs.”
De Bruyn expresses frustration at the fact that the metro is hard on people who do not pay for services, but fails to deliver services with the same efficiency and effectiveness they expect from taxpayers.
“If I don’t pay my bills, they tell me that they will put it against my house, which means I end up having to pay, because I want my name to be in the clear,” he says.
He adds that he has resolved not to pay levies for services that have not been rendered and, if this means the metro must penalise him, he is ready to take the matter further by going the legal route.
“I am ready to take the metro to court if I must,” he affirms.
”I will not be subjected to the unfairness that the metro is putting its people through.”
He explains that he has called the metro to lodge his complaints, but receives no assistance, only the phone being hung up on him.
“I called them twice yesterday, and they just hang up the phone in my ear,” he says.
“Sometimes no one even answers the phones at all.
“Who is expected to be accountable if no one is willing to assist us?”
Furthermore, de Bruyn says, he owns two houses which are situated next to each other, but the levies for refuse removal for the houses are different.
“Why am I paying two different amounts for the same-size bin at two different houses?” he asks.
He says he is taking a stand as he is tired of seeing himself and others like himself being exploited and has had enough of taking ill-treatment from the metro.
“The metro is stealing from us,” he adds.
“If my refuse removal levy works out to an average of R34 a week and we multiply that by an x number of households in Springs that also do not have the service delivered to them, but still have to pay, it works out to millions of Rand that the metro gets for free. That is theft!”
De Bruyn believes that, as much as the people need the metro, the metro ought to remember its responsibility and mandate to its people.
“They need to remember that they are here to take care of the people, not to cheat them out of money by means of poor service and treatment,” he says.
Questions have been sent to the metro and we are awaiting feedback.
