The Rand West City Local Municipality (RWCLM) and property owners owe Eskom R732 million, and ratepayers are urged to pay their municipal accounts to help clear the debt.
In the media briefing on Tuesday March 29, RWCLM management revealed that the hefty debt had been accumulating in the last 12 years, and according to Executive Mayor, Councillor Gladys Khoza, this increased rapidly following the merging of Randfontein and Westonaria in 2016.
Khoza was joined by acting Municipal Manager Marks Nkele and acting Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Naledi Madonsela, all of whom told members of the media that the municipality’s financial state was affected significantly by its inability to collect revenue as many residents weren’t paying for municipal services.
“That means we’ll not be able to pay Eskom this amount, and that’s why we’re facing this huge debt now, but over and above everything, we don’t want to punish our community, but we need to work closely with them,” Khoza said.
She said while the municipality acknowledged the fact that Covid-19 restrictions caused a huge financial set-back for many households in RWCLM, she stressed that it’s their mandate to collect revenue from property owners and businesses to keep the municipality afloat.
“We’re going to exhaust all avenues to make sure revenue is collected by implementing credit control, but we’ll first issue notices about areas of accounts so that those in arrears can come forward and make payment arrangements with us,” Khoza said.
She added that those whose electricity meters had been bridged or tampered with would not be penalised, and those who have queries about their accounts should come forward to be assisted.
The Mayor added that failure to collect revenue could affect minor services such as grass-cutting, fixing potholes and overall service delivery in town; which ultimately would degrade the municipality.
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