By Ndaba Dlamini
A CAMPAIGN to register Joburg's indigent population so that they can get access to free services has been initiated by the City in a move in which R1,5-billion owed by its poor will be written off by the council.
Parks Tau, the mayoral committee member responsible for finance, strategy and economic development, said this during an interview with Radio 702's Tim Modise on Tuesday.
His remarks came as the City launched a campaign in Chiawelo, Soweto, to get an estimated 100 000 indigent households to register to get access to free services.
Tau said the council would not write off the entire R7,9-billion owed by the City's residents. "The council will go all out to collect the R6,4-billion owed by some of the City's residents who can afford to settle their accounts. [However] the City saw fit not to pursue debts amounting to R1,5-billion owed by its poor residents because they cannot afford to pay rates."
Tau said people who qualified for free services were those who were unemployed and families who were supported by pensioners who received grants from the government.
"These people should apply to the City to get access to free services. Households with a property value of R20 000 or less will benefit from the City's move. These households will get a 100 percent rebate on rates. They will also be afforded the 50kWh of free electricity and six kilolitres of free water per household per month."
Over the past few months the City had gone all out to institute stringent management of its revenue services, Tau said, adding that it had managed to collect 92 percent of what it was supposed to collect in rates each month.
"The City is now focussing on making sure that people do not accrue debts over time." He added that there were some individuals who could afford to pay rates who owed the council more than R100 000. "Credit control will certainly be implemented against those people."
Tau answered questions from the public during the radio interview. One caller queried the arrears figures of R7,9-billion, saying was charged R5 500 for one month's electricity though no one had come to take meter readings.
In response, Tau said the City was now wholly responsible for meter readings done through City Power, the council utility that distributes electricity. Previously, private companies had conducted these.
"The City encourages those people with queries to contact its revenue department," he said.
One caller welcomed the City's move to write off debts owed by the indigent, saying her domestic worker, who earned less than R1 400 a month, owed the City R10 000 in unpaid rates. Tau said the worker should go to the municipal offices to register for free services. "If she qualifies, the subsidy will be granted on the day of registration."
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