Sleepless nights have plagued the newly-appointed City of Johannesburg MMC of Finance, Dr Rabelani Dagada, when revenue collection fell below 90 per cent in July.
“We must never go lower than 90 per cent. This is the agreement with investors and creditors,” Dagada said. Among some of his ambitious goals for the department is his plan to increase revenue collection.
Mayor Herman Mashaba agreed that measures need to be introduced to improve revenue collection in the City. “There are far too many people who can afford to pay but are currently failing to do so as a result of flaws in the billing system, outdated account details, or simply ignoring their bills,” he said.
Increasing revenue collection will allow the City to improve infrastructure and service delivery, especially to the poor who need it most, Mashaba said.
Dagada agreed, but said the middle and upper middle classes cannot be neglected. “If we neglect them, they will leave the city, [so we won’t be able to] collect rates and taxes and then the poor will not be taken care of.”
Dagada pointed to the inner city is the municipality’s biggest area of concern. “However, we even find illegal connections in Bryanston. We also have businesses that are not paying,” he said.
Dagada said if revenue collection increases, the City may reduce its debt for capital expenditure. “We borrow too much [when] we could be self-funding.”
In August and September, revenue collection picked up again and Dagada said the City will make up for the lower collection in July.
