South Africa - Pretoria - 03 March 2022 - Mi-Casa 2 residence who fell victims to #TshwaneYaTima complain bitterly of still being without power despite proof their bills paid up, and City promises to reconnect them not being fulfilled. Picture: Thobile Mathonsi/African News Agency (ANA)
Thousands of defaulting customers in the City of Tshwane are at risk of losing their valuable assets and properties, after the municipality threatened to initiate legal steps to attach these should they fail to settle their outstanding municipal bills.
MMC for Finance, Jacqui Uys, said at least 14 000 customers whose municipal accounts were in arrears had been issued with Section 129 notices as formal demand for payments.
She said the notices of demand for payments given to residents, businesses, government entities and embassies, marked “the start of the debt-collection process that will ultimately end in the attachment of assets, including properties of defaulting payers”.
“A Section 129 notice is a legislative process that the City is embarking on to support and bolster our relaunched Tshwane Ya Tima revenue-collection campaign where we disconnect services to those who build up high utility accounts and fail to pay the City,” Uys said.
She said Tshwane Ya Tima and the issuing of letters of demand were supported by a focus on removing illegal connections, and the imposition of hefty fines against transgressors.
Legal action is also taken through the arrests of those who “continue to steal electricity by means of illegal connections”.
Two weeks ago, Tshwane metro police arrested a Pretoria Central resident for illegally reconnecting his electricity after it was disconnected by the municipality. The resident was charged with tampering with municipal infrastructure and theft of electricity.
Last month, two Garsfontein homeowners and a former Tshwane contractor were arrested for tampering with municipal infrastructure and theft of electricity.
A similar case related to electricity theft was opened by the City against a Centurion shopping centre in March.
Uys said: “Electricity and water theft is a crime, and illegal connections are a criminal offence. It is not a faceless crime. By illegally connecting you are robbing the City of its revenue and fellow residents of services.”
She explained that the continued move to ensure a successful debt-collection function was key to the City’s financial recovery.
“We remain thankful to those who have settled their account in full and on time. We further call on those who have not done so to please settle their accounts or to take responsibility for their debt by applying for the free indigent basket of services or to apply to the affordability committee to have debt restructured or make payment arrangements with the City,” she said.
Pretoria News
rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za
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