Editor –Â
We, the old age pensioners and disability grant recipients, have received letters from Inkosi Langalibalele Local Municipality lawyers from Pietermaritzburg to pay our outstanding rates with interest.
ALSO SEE: Pensioner seeks clarity on indigent water policy
We cannot pay rates and now we have to pay interest. With what money? What can we do with pension money of R1780? Why should we pay rates?
Look at our streets and roads; full of potholes and long grass. We pay the municipality, but where is the service?
Estcourt residents need to take matters to national government.
What is our Ratepayers Association doing about this? As pensioners, we have paid rates all our lives, so we should now be excluded.
Concerned Resident
It is disappointing that what might have been a legitimate plea from the senior citizens of this town to their municipality has been used as a publicity stunt. It is no secret that this municipality is going through financial difficulties.
Part of the reason for that is that there was a huge amount owed to the municipality by business, farms, residents, etc, in this town. You will recall that the municipality was put in terms by Eskom because of the outstanding debt that the municipality owed.
An arrangement was made between Eskom and the municipality to pay the outstanding debt plus the current account, which the municipality has honoured up to now. This has been made possible through a vigorous debt collection exercise by the officials and has assisted the municipality in paying old debt, which went as far back as 2015.
One has been tempted to publish the list of the businesses and people who owe the municipality, especially because of sustained criticism, but we refrained from doing that, as we understood the frustration of our community.
The municipality has implemented a number of cost-cutting measures, which include cutting all spending to social and sporting programmes, not because these are not important, but to ensure that we remain a going concern that continues to offer limited services to its people.
Once the culture of paying is inculcated in our citizens, it is then that we can hold the municipality accountable for services not rendered to our community. We remain focused on trying to bring about a turnaround in this municipality and this can be achieved through collaborative efforts with the citizens of this municipality.
We welcome all the positive criticism we have received and promise that we will turn that into action to restore the pride of the citizens of Estcourt and surrounding areas.
Municipal Manager PS Mkhize
SEE THIS:Uthukela meets with the pensioners and unemployed residents
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