The Steve Tshwete municipality has nullified claims that it has removed residents who were on the indigents programme without consultation.
Residents endured the scorching sun in long snake-queues outside municipal headquarters to re-register their accounts for water and electricity discounts.
The Middelburg and Hendrina Residents Front (MHRF) has slammed the act. “We condemn the removal of community members from the indigent list without consultation,” said MHRF spokesperson, Thato Mathunyane. “This act by the municipality is very disturbing and cannot be tolerated. The timing to correct any wrongdoing is also questionable as it subjects our people to poverty as the rates and taxes affects the lives particularly in these trying times of the pandemic,” he said.
“MHRF needs council resolution to that effect so that we know that the councillors are actually the ones that misrepresent and disadvantage the constituency they claim to represent,” Mathunyane said.
David Mogofe, executive director on Financial Services, said that everyone who was in the indigents list had been removed for the re-submission of proper documentation. “Letters were sent to those who were on the list but unfortunately some could not be reached due to the issue of post office,” he said. “Councillors are aware of this process because the matter was taken to council and a resolution was taken. It may be that it was not possible to convene community meetings due to Covid-19 restrictions,” Mogofe said.
Mogofe also said that it was necessary for the municipality to re-start an indigents list. “Thousands of people are found to be residing in priorities that are listed as the deceased estate. We, through our data cleansing process, we are clearing those accounts so that we can register the right people qualifying to be indigent. If they qualify, we put them back on the list,” he said. He added that the municipality has appointed a service provider who goes to certain houses identified to have some form of abnormalities in their water and electricity billing. “The service provider is going to verify that so that we can have credible data to bill our customers correctly,” he said.
