The City of Tshwane. Picture: iStock
As shoppers get ready to splurge on the latest tech and other items that they may want but not need on Black Friday, the City of Tshwane has joined the parade and is offering residents and businesses its own festive discounts.
While it may not be tech-related, Tshwane residents can reap some reprieve if they are heavily indebted to their municipal accounts.
With Eskom scheduled to increase electricity tariffs, the specials might just be what residents need to get out of the red.
“Settle your municipal account in full on or before 29 November 2024, and qualify for 100% on interest charges,” the City of Tshwane said.
City of Tshwane spokesperson Selby Bokaba told The Citizen they know that people will be splurging money on shopping, so why not clear that municipal debt.
“I saw one bank estimating that R30 billion will be transacted in just one day, and looking at our debtors’ book with so many people owing and some of them owing a lot of money, not because of the primary debt, but because that debt had accumulated interest.
“So, we said, let’s come with a give and take — a proposal, wherein we say you come forward, you make a payment arrangement, we will write off or remove the interest which had been levied on your primary debt. So that’s the offer that we are making, we are saying let’s all be in the spirit of Black Friday,” Bokaba said.
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Bokaba said the city does not want to revert to credit control and credit control means cutting off residents’ municipal services.
“So we’re trying to be fair, we’re trying to be part of the spirit of the Black Friday that while we spend, we need to spend responsibly, and also prioritise the fact that even when you’re buying nice clothes or you buy a new iron which is on special, you need electricity for you to utilise that iron. If you buy a new fridge, you need electricity to power that fridge. So all of these things are dependent on you having water, having electricity in your house.”
While the City of Tshwane has a debtors book with residents owing billions, Bokaba is optimistic that they will get a lot of people paying their outstanding debt.
“Our debtors’ book stands at R28 billion. We are under no illusion that we will collect all of that money. But we are hoping for a positive outcome that people will take up this once-off opportunity because it will not come again.
“So, it’s difficult to estimate how much people will come forward and pay. But if I, for instance, have a debt to Tshwane of R15 000, R 10,000 is the primary debt, R5 000 is the interest. I would gladly take up this opportunity before the city could invoke his credit control policy,” Bokaba said. ,
Bokaba advised residents and businesses owing money to the City of Tshwane to take up this “once off opportunity” which comes once in a lifetime.
“This is Christmas coming early and people must just take advantage of this,” Bokaba said.
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