THE Democratic Alliance (DA) in Durban has condemned the increase on all city owned rental stock, saying this extra rent cannot be afforded by the poor.
At a council meeting on 25 May, Ward 33 councillor, Mmabatho Tembe, spoke out strongly against the city’s proposed increase of between 10 and 15 per cent on all city owned rental stock. Councillor Tembe reminded the council that council flats were there to assist people who fall between a certain income line and who receive disability and old age grants.
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She asked how the city expected to receive any more from residents who do not have more to give and pointed out that some rentals were in fact more than the social grants residents received, saying there was no money after paying rent for basic necessities like food water and electricity.
“The DA has on numerous occasions proposed to the city that they do more to deal with the exceptionally high non-payment rate, estimated to be at 80 per cent.”
“By allowing such a large number of residents to default on paying their rent, and instead increasing the rent to collect more income from city owned properties, the municipality is merely punishing law abiding residents while turning a blind eye to those who do not pay. The ANC has always voted against these proposals,” said Tembe.
She said the poor maintenance evident at council flats was also of concern.
“Basic amenities are not looked after with the current rent that is being paid. There is no evidence that the money coming from rent is being used to adequately maintain and improve the current state of the buildings.” she said.
Human Settlements and Infrastructure Committee committee whip, Councillor Martin Meyer, said a full audit of people who occupied rental stock needed to be carried out to ensure that non-payers and illegal residents were identified and made to pay what they owed. He said by increasing the income in this manner, there would be no need to increase the burden on paying residents.
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Meyer, along with other committee members, will over the next few weeks visit council flats across eThekwini to see for themselves the state of the flats and will engage with the chairperson of Human Settlements and Infrastructure to find lasting solutions that will assist the poor of the city.
“Let us sort out the problems we face before burdening our valuable and lower income community members with more problem-causing decisions. Let us fix our economy and social ills so that our people can pay the current rent before asking for even more money. In tough times government must be there as a friend and a protector of the poor. Better services before increased rent.” said Tembe.
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