The City of Johannesburg needs money from all its ratepayers to be able to build, maintain, and extend infrastructure, continue to render basic services, and secure the future of the City. This is according to Cllr Dada Morero, the Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) responsible for Finance.
“If we pay [rates and basic services] to our municipality, it means the values of our properties will go higher. It means you would have at least left your children with something of value when you retire. It also means you are investing into the generation that will come after you,” said Cllr Morero.
Cllr Morero urged the Noordgesig community to work with the City to ensure continuous basic services and infrastructure development in the area.
“As the City’s Group Finance Department, we want to resolve your account queries so that we can collect revenue from you. With the revenue that we collect, it means we can fix your roads, traffic lights, and streetlights, but without your revenue, we cannot do all that,” said Cllr Morero.
Cllr Morero was addressing the Noordgesig community in Soweto on Tuesday evening, 23 May 2023, as part of his engagements with communities and stakeholders around service delivery issues.
About 65 percent of the City’s annual budget comes from the revenue it collects from ratepayers in property rates, electricity, water, refuse, and sewer charges.
Cllr Morero stressed the importance of paying for services by residents, which will ensure the City does not go into bankruptcy, which will risk it not being able to render basic services to millions of its residents.
“As a City, we must also buy electricity from Eskom and water from Rand Water and distribute and sell it to you. Without the money collected from revenue and service rendered, Johannesburg will be a failed City, and no one wants a failed City,” said Cllr Morero.
The MMC acknowledged concerns raised by the community, including the estimation of their electricity and water meters beyond what the City’s Credit Control and Debt Collection Policy subscribes to, huge unemployment and unaffordability to pay for services in the area, amongst others.
“The City right now does not have enough money, and this is because people have lost their jobs, and businesses have shut down because of Covid-19. We understand there are many reasons why some people cannot pay for services,” said Cllr Morero.
Cllr Morero said the City was working hard to reignite the local economy after the Covid-19 lockdowns crippled it. He said they will collaborate with communities across the City to revive the economy.
He committed to rolling up his sleeves with his teams from City Power, Joburg Water, Pikitup and relevant departments such as the City’s Revenue, Property, Development Planning, and Community Development, working with the Noordgesig community to resolve billing queries in the area.
He further pleaded with the community to allow the teams from the City, which will be deployed in the area from this coming Monday, 29 May 2023, to visit houses to read meters, verify them, perform audits, and give customers accurate and correct bills. Those who would have accumulated debt because of high consumption would be assisted and provided advice on how best to structure their debt and come into good standing with the City again.
The City has several programmes to assist those who are unable to service their municipal debt. This includes customers being assisted to sign an acknowledgment of debt (AOD) and agreeing on a payment arrangement plan, where they could pay a determined amount, they can afford. The City also offers property rates rebates for qualifying pensioners and child-headed households, free basic services through its flagship Expanded Social Package (ESP) programme, and other debt relief measures.
ENDS
For more information on all customer service offerings, visit www.e-joburg.org.za, www.joburg.org.za or call 0860 562 874.
Issued by the MMC Finance, Cllr Dada Morero
For more information, or an interview with MMC Dada Morero, please contact:
Kgamanyane Maphologela, Director: Communications and Stakeholder Engagement
Group Finance, Email: stanm@joburg.org.za
For interviews, please contact Nkosana Lekotjolo on 082 467 9429
or Nyaniso Jeku on 081 441 8118
25/05/2023
