People in financial trouble with the City of Tshwane due to unpaid municipal bills run the risk of losing their properties as the municipality intends instituting legal action against them with a view to recoup debts by selling their properties.
Mayor Cilliers Brink threatened to take legal action against some defaulting customers yesterday during the ongoing Tshwane Ya Tima campaign aimed to recover an amount of R23.3 billion owed to the city.
Yesterday, the aggressive campaign which included cutting off electricity from residents and businesses whose municipal accounts are in arrears targeted those living in the inner-city, Pretoria west and Pretoria east.
Illegal connections to properties was identified as a major problem facing the municipality.
Brink vowed that there would be consequences against perpetrators of illegal connections and those who were refusing to pay municipal rates and taxes.
“It is important to state that we are not just going to ignore that; we are going to make a criminal case on every instance of illegal connections,” he said.
He cited that the City had come across cases of people who refuse to pay for other municipal services because they have installed solar panels at home.
“We got Section 300 of the Criminal Procedure Act which enables a court with jurisdiction to order compensation against the person who is accused of a criminal act. We’re going to pursue that as well. We saw a lot of instances who have simply accepted that they don’t have access to electricity (because) they have installed solar panels. And in those instances again we are not just going to stop at cutting their services. We are going to get a judgment debt against those consumers and sell their properties in execution,” he said.
The municipal team led by Brink disconnected a property whose owner owed the city a whopping R3 million.
In one of the properties on Pretorius street in Hatfield with an outstanding debt of R270 000 the team didn’t have access because it was locked.
The Guest House in Hatfield, which owed an amount of R970 000, was among those who were disconnected and slapped with a fine because of illegal an connection.
A business in Brooklyn was left in the dark after its electricity was cut off for owing an amount of R972 221.3.
One of the customers owing R2.7m refused to open gates for a municipal team to access the electricity box. However, the team later came back with a cherry picker truck to gain access and disconnected the household.
Brink reiterated that consumers facing financial difficulties can make a payment arrangement by approaching the municipality before they are disconnected from the power grid.
“There is a way of managing the debt but this is not to wait until the last moment. We need people to pay their obligations because that is the only way we can sustain local government services. The reason why we have many of our problems is because of the culture of non-payment which we are going to break with Tshwane Ya Tima,” he said.
As part of the campaign, he expressed gratitude to those who continue to settle their monthly municipal bills.
Pretoria News