Africa-Press – South-Africa. The Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for finance in the City of Johannesburg, Dada Morero, on Tuesday said residents must prioritise paying their municipal account like they prioritise their luxuries.
“There is no excuse for communities who can afford to pay for municipal services not to do so. Residents who can afford to pay, [should] do the right thing and pay up for services they have consumed. The City seeks greater collaborations with communities to find lasting solutions,” said Morero.
The MMC pleaded with communities to prioritise their municipal accounts the same way they prioritise luxuries such as pay television and retail shop accounts.
“If the municipality doesn’t get the money from ratepayers, we can’t do all the service delivery things that more and more of our communities are calling for. Residents must find a healthy balance between paying for their municipal accounts and DStv accounts.”
He said that the City’s coffers were drying up fast due to the culture of non-payment.
According to Morero, about 65% of the City’s annual budget comes from the revenue of ratepayers.
“The City is expected to be self-funding and raise revenue from these three key sources of services: electricity, water supplies, and property taxes known as rates. The money raised not only pays for basic services such as roads, refuse collection, traffic control, sewers, lights and water but also for an expanded community police service, housing for the poor, and refurbished bus services, among other services,” he said.
Morero said municipalities generated and received income from various sources, such as grants and subsidies from the national government, loans, fines, and penalties that the municipalities issue.
“Residents must continue to pay their municipal accounts on time and in full to ensure that they have electricity, clean and sufficient water, their waste is collected regularly, and have better roads to drive on,” said Morero.
Addressing the community of Ennerdale on Saturday, Morero rejected claims that the whole of Ennerdale could not pay for municipal services.
“If you spend Saturdays in Ennerdale at car washes, you’ll be shocked to see the luxurious cars that park there. So, it means a certain portion of the population can afford to pay. But there’s also a certain portion of the population that cannot afford to pay. That portion of the population that can’t afford to pay, we as [the] government have [the] responsibility to help that community that is unable to pay because of unemployment,” said Morero.
He told the Ennerdale community that he had pleaded with Soweto’s middle-class that drives “posh cars” to pay for the municipal services because they can afford it.
“It’s not true that everyone here in Ennerdale cannot pay. You pay for services according to the level of your consumption. If you consume too much electricity and water, you will pay according to your consumption,” said Morero.
He said the group finance department would roll out a three-month programme in Ennerdale to help resolve billing queries in the area.
“During this period, residents won’t be negatively affected by the City’s credit control action until their billing issues are solved.
“We will have a programme with you as residents, where we will announce the dates. We will come to you to address all affected account holders until we have resolved the problems.
“The City [is] losing 30% of the water through, among others, water wastage in communities, vandalism of infrastructure, leaks and burst pipes, which would need stronger partnerships with communities and stakeholders to resolve,” said Morero.
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