Writing off of muni debt nothing new – Mayor Thembi Nkadimeng

Karen Venter

POLOKWANE – With reports appearing over the past 24 hours in both local and national media that the Polokwane Municipality is set to write off millions of rands in outstanding debt owed by Mankweng residents, and that this decision was made in order to stop the ongoing violent protests in the area, Polokwane Mayor, Thembi Nkadimeng called an urgent media briefing this afternoon (Thursday).
Nkadimeng made it clear that such reports are misleading and inaccurate. She said nothing has changed with regard to the way the municipality is dealing with outstanding debt. “The only difference between other areas of the Polokwane municipality and Mankweng is the assessment rates. Our team is doing a full titledeed and proclamation check on the properties in Mankweng in order to determine these. Most property in this area is actually owned by Kgoshi Mamabolo,” she explained.
She once again explained the entire debt review process the municipality is currently rolling out in all areas of the municipality.
She explained that in putting certain laws in place, government has taken the poor into consideration. “No one with an RDP house will have to pay property assessment rates on their home. These rates only apply for property worth R100 000 and more. Anyone who has been charged property assessment rates for property worth less than R100 000 should come forward and we will write the account off,” Nkadimeng promised.
She said consumers could not expect their bills to be written off in their entirety. “First of all, there is no doubt that sewage and refuse removal must be paid for. While water bills and assessment rates are in question, we are prepared to waive these costs for now. The interest outstanding will also be written off. Furthermore, we are prepared to give an up to 40% rebate on the remaining amount outstanding on an account and we will allow the consumer to make arrangements to pay outstanding debt off,” Nkadimeng explained.
“Yes, we had billing challenges due to technical difficulties with the system but we have fixed this,” she continued.
She said Council had resolved during a meeting that took place on 28 January that debt reviews will be done on outstanding accounts household by household and business by business. “Some accounts have not been paid for eight years.”
She said the amount owed by consumers to the municipality was R700 million as of October last year and this included interest on overdue accounts, as well as incorrect bills. “We have brought this down to R78 million.”
She explained the municipality cannot have a blanket approach on all outstanding debt. “If a poor person has been charged assessment rates, lets negotiate, but if for example, it is a place like a university, we can’t write that debt off. We will switch off utilities and they must pay.
“This includes government departments. If money is owed, it must be paid,” Nkadimeng said.
She said the municipality will visit each community to sort out outstanding debt for each household. “We started in Seshego and we are coming to Mankweng. I have agreed with Mankweng’s leadership that on a date agreed on, we will go there and deal with each and every account one by one.
Regarding her third meeting with representatives of the Mankweng community, which took place earlier today, she said it had been communicated to her that the Mankweng community is happy with the offer on the table and has accepted it. She mentioned that on leaving Mankweng after her meeting there yesterday, residents danced and ululated, praising her for sorting out their problems that had been unresolved since 2009.
“It is time that black people begin to reap what is owed to them, and redistribution of services is one of the ways in which this can be done. In so doing, we will be correcting the imbalances of the past,” she concluded.

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