Polokwane Muni denies Mankweng claims

The suggestion that the Polokwane Municipality is being held hostage by Mankweng residents is misleading and the suggestion of politics being at play is absurd and unfounded.
This is according to municipal Communications and Marketing Manager Matshidiso Mothapo, who responded to Polokwane Observer’s front page article ‘Mankweng holds city hostage’ last week.
The municipality was given the opportunity to comment prior to the article being published, however by the time of going to print the comment was still underway.
Polokwane Observer reported that the municipality is seemingly being held hostage by Mankweng residents who owe some R300 million in water and electricity bills amid political resilience allegedly being the order of the day. In spite of this bad debt, Mankweng is seemingly untouchable when it comes to their municipal utilities being disconnected.
It has been alleged from several quarters that this is because the municipality does not want a repeat of the unrest that plagued the Mankweng area over the past two years in protest against the municipality’s services, and the municipality has not denied this.
Mothapo vehemently denied the hostage allegation, saying there is a process being put into place with the aim of implementing immediate control in Mankweng. “There has been significant progress made towards resolution of the challenges in the area,” he said.
Responding to the statement in the article that the effectiveness of disconnecting defaulters has previously been firmly established, with Seshego being a good example as following disconnections in Seshego, the area’s payment rate had increased to just over 90%, Mothapo said comparing Seshego and Mankweng “is mischievous as the municipality is addressing different challenges. Mankweng had its set of challenges and those must be addressed first just like we do in Seshego”.
The municipality could not disconnect Mankweng’s utilities because there was an issue raised on R293 settlements in relation to assessment rates as the community believed they were part of a rural settlement, he said. “The municipality had to seek legal advice on the matter. The legal opinion has been received and will be presented to the stakeholders,” he said adding that electricity in Mankweng is provided to the community by Eskom and therefore the municipality is not owed on electricity.
Mothapo went on to say that the municipality has put together a project steering committee consisting of the stakeholders of Mankweng to assess and resolve the challenges raised by the community together. “Payment in Man­kweng has improved due to intensive customer service that is being implemented through this process.”
He explained that among the activities conducted in Mankweng was an audit of the entire area to determine that meters were functional and being read. The audit also included assessment of the full extent of indigent status in the area. “This audit has been completed and a report was finalised and will serve in Council structures to take the debt management forward.”
There is a final meeting arranged with the project steering committee to take the process forward for measures of credit control to be implemented to the domestic customers, he concluded.
Commenting on Facebook about Polo­kwa­­ne Observer’s article, Favor Ramakgolo said Mankweng residents are willing to pay their bills but there are a lot of discrepancies in terms of billing. “Now the residents are charged R1 400 flat rate of water. Some households both parents are working and children are at school…” In light of this, he questioned how they would have consumed so much water.
He went on to say, “smart meters are installed but they are not working as yet and who is to be blamed? The previous mayor promised to scrap the bills after the unrest you are referring to but up to today nothing happened. What is seen with this municipality is laziness, corruption and lack of skills,” his comment concluded.
Reacting to Ramakgolo’s comment, Mothapo said it seemed as if his comment was based on hearsay as no specific account was mentioned with him referring to “some households”.
“The claim must be tested as there is no account charged R1 400 on a flat rate in Mankweng. The temporary flat rate on water in Mankweng is R292, pending the processes as mentioned earlier. The smart meters installed in Mankweng are functioning properly,” Mothapo said.
He further stressed that accounts in dispute are verified and tested, a process that has been outlined to the community. “The reader has an obligation and a right to prove his assertions of laziness, corruption and lack of skills. The municipality is concluding a process with community representatives,” he concluded.

Story: KAREN VENTER
>>karen@observer.co.za