'Cash first for city services'

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Johannesburgers may soon be required to make up-front cash payments for municipal services instead of paying in arrears as currently.

The city is battling to recover almost R19-billion it says it is owed by residents and businesses. About R14-billion of the debt is considered irrecoverable.

This is a national problem.

In November, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Lechesa Tsenoli told parliament that residents owed the country's 278 municipalities about R87-billion.

During an extraordinary meeting of parliament's finance portfolio committee on Friday, the DA in Johannesburg proposed requiring payment of rates, and charges for other services, upfront in cash.

This would involve the installation of prepaid water and electricity meters for all households and businesses in the metro.

John Mendelsohn, a DA member of the city council's finance committee, said the proposal was still in a preliminary phase but plans were afoot to present it to the Municipal Public Accounts Committee next month.

But committee chairman Boyce Gcabashe was less enthusiastic, saying there was "nothing extraordinary" about the proposal.

"The proposal is premature but we are not discounting it. We will deal with it in the Municipal Public Accounts Committee meeting," he said.

"We have debt that we can chase and debt that we cannot. That debt must be written off."

According to the city's annual report, by June 30 last year residents owed R18.966-billion - R7-billion for water, R5.4-billion for electricity, R5.3-billion for rates, R805-million for refuse removal and R341.6-million for rent.

Mendelsohn conceded that the proposal would be "hugely unpopular" but said it was necessary.
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Link.
 
Maybe the residents would prefer this. It would relieve many of the billing problems if the city switched over completely to prepaid.
 
Somebody's cousin has a business that sells prepaid meters...


but to be frank though. I had a massive battle with Midvaal about my electricity meter for more than a year. One broke and all of a sudden showed massive readings, then there was a error calculating my amount off the new one. In the end i settled on a amount with them and had a prepaid installed. no issues since.

Btw - spent a fun filled hour this weekend cleaning a ant nest out of my water meter, wonder when last it was read?
 
IzZzy said:
Agree with this. Nothing for mahala.
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If it is done without corruption then it will work sadly it will be the same case as in Pretoria, the whole scheme is going to cost residents a fortune.
 
biena said:
'
If it is done without corruption then it will work sadly it will be the same case as in Pretoria, the whole scheme is going to cost residents a fortune.
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Can't comment on PTA as I am involved.
 
To a degree... I agree with this...

I still think they need to tighten up on their debt collection processes before going down the road of turning everything pre-paid..
It will be a cheaper option in the shortterm, and probably make a massive difference to the finances of the city.
 
I would venture to say that at least 50 to 70% of that R19 Billion is incorrectly billed amounts.
Joburg had a massive problem with this.
We had R60,000.00 added to our account with no explanation whatsoever.
When queried we were just told that it was "an adjustment".
It is still sitting on our account and we have been "handed over" now for about 4 years in a row.
We just ignore and pay the remainder of the account.
 
ToxicBunny said:
To a degree... I agree with this...

I still think they need to tighten up on their debt collection processes before going down the road of turning everything pre-paid..
It will be a cheaper option in the shortterm, and probably make a massive difference to the finances of the city.
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From what I've heard, debt collection is quite a pricey process. With figures of 20-30% of the debt being charged to collect. I think its better for all to be on pre paid IMO. No payment, no services. Unlike currently where only some of us pay...
 
My understanding that Tshwane already implemented this for the rates&taxes.
 
sox63 said:
From what I've heard, debt collection is quite a pricey process. With figures of 20-30% of the debt being charged to collect. I think its better for all to be on pre paid IMO. No payment, no services. Unlike currently where only some of us pay...
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I'm not saying "handing" over type of debt collection... but the processes prior to that point. Tighten up the payment policies, and the resultant action if no payment is made.
 
I'd be interested to see what the constitutional court would have to say about the plan to deny access to water to those without cash.
 
joelus said:
I'd be interested to see what the constitutional court would have to say about the plan to deny access to water to those without cash.
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The meters are programmed to allow the first 100 kilolitres (or whatever it is) for free for month.
 
So then they can conveniently not deliver, even though I have paid?
No thank you!

My rule with them is: NO SERVICE = NO PAYMENT!
 
I don't get it, must be townships that don't pay or connect illegally? In 'leafy' suburbs they just cut you off for non-payment.
 
I am pretty sure that if I drove over someone and they got back up that I wouldn't hang around to mess with them any further.
 
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