Residents were recently shocked when a property on auction was shown to have had a huge outstanding municipal
services bill.
The property, 6 Baard Street in Carletonville’s Ext. 9, went on auction on 16 August. Those who were there raised their eyebrows at the amount of R204 766.36 owing for rates and taxes as of 10 August.
Given the Merafong municipality’s financial woes, Mr Carlos Rebelo, the ward councillor of the area concerned,
was astounded that the municipality had not acted to try and retrieve this money.
This is not the only property where the owners have run up huge municipal accounts.
During mix-ups with accounts in Fochville and Welverdiend, other large outstanding accounts have also come
to light.
In terms of a recent court judgment, the municipality stands to lose this outstanding revenue if it does not urgently
step up its collection policies and procedures.
On 29 August, the Constitutional Court upheld an earlier ruling by the North Gauteng Division of the High Court that the new owner of a property is not liable for any outstanding debts to the municipality prior to transfer of
the property into his name.
Any outstanding debt not collected by the time the clearance certificate is issued also remains the seller’s debt
and is unaffected by the transfer. As such, the municipality can collect such monies from the seller even after the
property is transferred into the name of the purchaser.
‘How much money will be lost if new owners cannot be held liable for outstanding costs?’ Rebelo wondered.
The Herald asked the Municipality about the issue on Tuesday.
‘The property has been disconnected for the non-payment of services on numerous occasions.
However, the arrears amount continues to rise, regardless, because of charges like land tax, waste services and sewerage charges, not to mention the interest on the outstanding amount.
In some cases, the auction of a property can take months if not years, which impacts on the arrears amount at the time of the property being auctioned.
The implementation of credit control, including the disconnection of the services of defaulters, takes place across the municipality,’ the municipal spokesperson replied.
