Year-long census initiative aims for accurate community statistics in Thembisile Hani Municipality
– Thembisile Hani municipality has started a data cleansing initiative to accurately determine the number of households and residents within its jurisdiction.
The municipality will conduct a door-to-door examination of households to gather accurate information on the number of people residing there and their economic and social statistics.
Executive mayor, Cllr Lesetja Dikgale said the municipality plans to visit all the households. “We have already visited a few houses, and I must say that we will visit all the houses so that we can know how many people each household has,” he said.
Dikgale further said that the municipality, as part of this initiative, has extended its amnesty incentive scheme for households and small medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) by an additional 12 months.
“The scheme, which will now conclude on 30 June 2025, offers an opportunity for ratepayers to have up to 90% of their household debt cleared and 50% of their debt cleared for SMMEs,” the mayor said.
He also urged all community members including SMMEs to take advantage of the incentive scheme which covers debts related to water, sanitation, refuse removal and property rates.
“By participating in the amnesty incentive scheme, ratepayers can clear their outstanding debts and enjoy a more streamlined payment process.
The municipality encourages all community members to be responsible citizens and pay for municipal services to ensure the continued provision of essential services such as water, sanitation, and refuse removal,” he said.
Themba Masombuka, ward 13 resident, said the data cleansing initiative is promising to provide a more accurate picture of the municipality’s population. “We are thrilled to see the municipality taking proactive steps to improve the accuracy and quality of our community’s data, as a residence I believe that this initiative is a huge step forward in ensuring that our communities’ data is reliable and trustworthy,” he said.
Masombuka further gave a suggestion about the initiative. “I think it will be beneficial to have a dedicated hotline or email address for residence to report any errors or any chance takers or scammers who might pretend to be people from the municipality.”
