‘We can’t keep paying and get nothing back’: Tshwane mayor unapologetic about cutting services

Tshwane Mayor Randall Williams was unapologetic and resisted any negotiations when he and his officials disconnected electricity and water supply to various businesses and government departments on Wednesday.

The government departments and businesses reportedly owe billions of rands in utilities and property taxes and on Wednesday were pleading with the mayor to keep the power on.

Next week, Williams and his team will be targeting residential complexes and estates during the city’s aggressive #TshwaneYaTima campaign – loosely translated as ‘Tshwane switches off’ – to secure around R8 billion that is owed by residents.

ALSO READ: ‘We mean business!’: City of Tshwane disconnects non-payers

But on Wednesday, Williams and acting city manager Mmaseabata Mutlaneng spared no mercy for businesses – like shopping centres and the five-star Sheraton hotel, and the departments, such as the South African National Defence Force’s navy offices, which are all in the debtor’s book. The city says it is owed more than R17 billion.

Businesses owe around R4 billion, residential customers had a debt of about R8 billion and the remaining chunk was owed by government departments, embassies and state-owned entities.

This has left the city in a position where it owed Eskom R635 million by the end of last month due to Tshwane’s unstable and irregular payment patterns over the past six months.

The pleas of the landlords and business owners were ignored on Wednesday, with Williams and Mutlaneng having to explain they were being disconnected.

The Sheraton Hotel’s manager Pascal Fouquet tried to negotiate with Williams after the five-star hotel was disconnected for owing about R23 million.

“I am not saying we don’t want to pay. I am saying give us a plan that we can commit to that is reasonable… We are paying R1.4 million to the city this month,” pleaded Fouquet.  

But Williams had little time for sympathy.

“You still consume. When you still consume, it means we are paying. So, we, in effect, are subsidising your business. It is not sustainable. You are not the only business. We can’t continue to keep paying and get nothing back… You are a businessman and you must decide how to best run your business. We are here on behalf of the city and we must decide on how to best run the city,” said Williams.

The headquarters of the department of higher education and training were also on the list due to their outstanding debt of R2.09 million. The Ditsong Museum also received a visit for their R300,000 debt while the SA Navy headquarters were also cut off for owing R3.1 million in property rates.

Williams said they had every right in terms of municipal legislation to recover what is due to Tshwane and that businesses cannot expect the city to subsidise them for electricity. This operation comes after many notices of outstanding debt were issued, most of which were ignored.

“We are going for all our debtors because they have an obligation to pay. You cannot consume for free… How do we afford to run the operations of the city if we have no revenue in the city? We can try and be easy if the city itself was in good financial standing. But the city is in a financial crisis… You can see service delivery is falling. We have less money available to fix street lights… to fix potholes and this needs to change,” said the frustrated mayor.

ALSO READ: City Power says Gauteng govt departments owe it more than R841m

While some businesses used the excuse of Covid-19 for failing to pay their debts, Williams did not accept this.

“If you look at what has happened all over the world, businesses have adapted. South African businesses will also have to adapt according to the business circumstances. They cannot now say because of Covid-19 then its business as usual for them and the city must subsidise them. It cannot work that way.”

“If there are problems in a business, they should come to the city and state their financial circumstances so we can reach a debt payment agreement. They can’t say that this is what they can afford and we must be satisfied with that. We will end up with a debtor’s book which will balloon to over R20 billion.”

But this did not apply to government departments. According to Williams, these departments are required to pay their accounts in full.

Next week, the city said it will target residents before “ruthlessly” dealing with those who connect electricity illegally.

– rorisangk@citizen.co.za