Time for debtors to pay up

It is encouraging to note that uMhlathuze mayor Mdu Mhlongo is rolling up his sleeves to tackle the problem of bad debt.

The demands on the municipality to provide professional service delivery and ensure proper maintenance of vital infrastructure are vast – especially considering the new growth phase the city is entering.

This requires careful budget planning in tough economic times.

It is therefore crucial that all moneys owed to the municipality should be settled on time to ensure good cash flow.

According to the city’s executive committee’s financial report last week, more than R150-million of bad debt falls in the 90 days and over category, while R313.4-million is owed in the 30 day category.

These figures are dominated by government and business non-payers.

Only the top 10 company defaulters owe the city R95-million, while government debtors such as Public Works are in arrears by R3.599-million.

Mhlongo rightfully points out that there is no excuse for government departments to default on payments.

The money is there and the only sensible explanation can be that administrative incompetence in the state departments’ account sections is the cause of non-payment.

This problem is, of course, not unique to uMhlathuze. Billions are owed to municipalities under stress throughout the country and apart from feeble threatening noises, very little constructive solutions are implemented to stop this rot.

Mhlongo summed it up perfectly. ‘If we could recover all the money owed, our situation will change dramatically and we can improve service delivery,’ he said at last Tuesday’s Exco meeting.

If the public, commercial sector and state departments expect of the municipality to provide well-oiled operational capacity, then they should do the right thing and pay their rates and taxes.

The populace can stage protests as much as they like, but as economic pressures continue to mount, the days of freeloading and a casual approach to settling outstanding debt are something of the past.

One must add though that prudent municipal budget control and spending are equally crucial, but that is another debate.