Requesting the metro to cancel rebates submission date

Kevin Kane writes:

I am a pensioner living in Ward 24; I have been receiving a rebate on my property rates for some time and have just received a notice from the Ekurhuleni Department of Finance, informing me that this rebate will expire on June 30.

I am now required to re-apply if I wish to continue to receive the rebate and have to complete a form with an affidavit that has to be certified by a Commissioner of Oaths.

The form then has to be submitted by hand to the municipal office.

This means I have to visit the police station (Commissioner of Oaths) and the municipal offices in town.

Given the present massive spike in active Covid-19 cases in this third wave, where the Government raised the lockdown to level three and has urged us to stay home, surely the worst possible thing is for Government to contradict its actions by forcing all the pensioners in Ekurhuleni to expose themselves to Covid-19 by having to visit the police station and municipal offices at this time.

Please Ekurhuleni, for our safety and yours, postpone this process and the deadline, until it is once again safe to continue.

Alternatively, make provision for electronic submission.

Editor’s note:
Zweli Dlamini, spokesperson of the Ekurhuleni metro, said:

The impact of Covid-19 level three restrictions and increased infections duly noted.

Application processes are being reviewed in order not to expose applicants unduly and will be communicated shortly.
Please note the metro supports the national disaster regulations on Covid-19.

Therefore, the metro continues to support that communities should not travel unnecessarily but are allowed to travel to an administrative centre where all their important matters should be addressed.

The government business and processes continue to operate as normal and all residents of the metro can access these services.

The metro has not taken a position on postponing timelines asset for various services. We encourage residents to practise Covid-19 safety precautions of putting on the mask when travelling and attending to administrative and shopping, to keep a 1.5m distance when awaiting or queue for the services and to continue washing hands and sanitizing where possible.

It is thus unfortunate that as per the request posed it is still a council policy that the beneficiaries of the metro’s pro-poor package should reapply to continue to receive the rebates and access indigent benefits and provide the following documents:

• Affidavit

• Copy of ID certified

• Copy of ID of all beneficiaries who are above 18 years and birth certificates for all minors in the household

• Proof of income or receipt from Sassa if a beneficiary is the State pensioner

• The applicant must fill out the application that he will receive in the office.

Unfortunately, the council has not changed the policy and this is the only way that the benefit can be retained.

The forms can alternatively be sent to the addresses below:

Alta Coetzee (Benoni) at alta.Coetzee@ekurhuleni.gov.za

Goodwill Mbuto at goodwill.Mbuto@ekurhuleni.gov.za

The metro encourages all elderly people to register for vaccination on the Electronic Vaccination Database System and access the services at the identified vaccine centres.

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