WATCH: Officials swoop in on defaulting customers
Residents are advised to sort out their overdue payments for municipal services, or risk having their electricity and water disconnected.
As part of the City of Ekurhuleni’s revenue enhancement programme (Siyakhokha Siyathuthuka), a team of officials and metro police recently descended on Boksburg to collect overdue payments from defaulting customers in the area.
In the latest revenue enhancement blitz, the team targeted businesses in industrial sites in Boksburg, where 12 properties owing the city an estimated combined R8.1m were visited.
They disconnected services to those who failed to make any effort to pay what is due to the municipality.
To dodge disconnection of electricity at one of the businesses, a filling station, moved quickly and made a R205 543.28 payment, after negotiating an arrangement to pay the outstanding debt.
Just opposite this property, the team disconnected illegal power connections used for bulk electricity supply to the nearby Angelo informal settlement.
The city urges residents and businesses with overdue accounts to come forward and make payment arrangements to avoid disconnections.
According to metro spokesperson Zweli Dlamini, the revenue enhancement operations are not intended as punitive measures against customers but seek to reduce customer debt, maintain the city’s financial stability and improve the provision of services.
Households and businesses in the City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) collectively owe the municipality a combined debt of over R25b for rates and services, with defaulting households accounting for R20b of this total debt. Most of these debts are long overdue, and, the huge shortfall of non-payment by some households and businesses has taken a toll on service delivery and public infrastructure maintenance.
Indigents
Households that cannot make ends meet and are unable to afford basic services can apply for an indigent status at their nearest customer care centres for them to qualify for free basic services like water, sanitation, refuse removal and electricity.
The social package for indigent relief consists of:
• 100% rebate on assessment rates
• Free refuse removal
• 50kwh of free electricity per month
• 6kl of water and sewer per month
• Free indigent burial to registered and deemed indigents
• Special rates on emergency services such as ambulance and firefighting.
Who qualifies for this programme?
• You must be residing in the City of Ekurhuleni.
• Be over the age of 18 years, this includes financially dependent minors of the applicant.
• Be a South African citizen or in possession of a permanent residence certificate.
• Combined monthly household income be less than two monthly minimum wage, based on area. A domestic worker wage (R8 134.40), as determined by the Minister of Employment and Labour from time to time.
The following documents are needed based on the applicable category:
• ID copy of the applicant and spouse where applicable.
• ID/birth certificate copies of dependents who reside on the property.
• Latest municipal account statement.
• Proof of income (Sassa pension statement for pensioners or three-month bank statement/letter of employment for employed applicants), lack of income (affidavits) or registration as a full-time student.
Also Read: CoE deploys 65 Siyakhokha brigades to enhance its revenue
