Staff reporter
Bloemfontein – The Mangaung Metro Municipality has started switching off water in buildings housing Free State Provincial Government and Business in the city.
This as the provincial government is battling to have power on after Centlec SOC disconnected electricity on Wednesday over R200 million debt.
Speaking exclusively to STEPUPSANEWS, Sello More, City Manager said they started yesterday with water-shedding.
“We started yesterday.
Our books look very bad:
- Residential 7,7billion
- Gov R2.25billion
- Business 2.3billion
We have also enslisted services of companies dealing with debt collection and those dealing with disconnections.
If your things are not in order, we will cut you and the only negotiations that will happen are those in line with the municipal rates and taxes policy.”
More said the debt was weighing heavily on the municipality.
“The debt that is due to Mangaung Metro weighs heavily on its capacity to deliver services. No services are for free except for those registered as indigents. We have to pay workers, buy tools of trade, contract services and of course, maintain the community infrastructure. All that can only be achieved if the people pay for services.
Our disconnections of both water and electricity are critical in us recovering what is owed to us. We are in the process of issuing a joint account to residents and business on services owed to the municipality. In other words, in the near future you won’t be able to buy electricity if you owe rates and taxes. Same applies to water and other services.”
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I’m a 58 year old mangaung resident,unemployed,this matter of unpaid municipal services,particularly water and rates I put the blame on the municipality for ignoring the simple fact of engaging the community,business.as this non payment issue has be there for years,I would suggest they get rid of old residential debt and recapture a new data and system of payment.i currently stay in a house i bought 10years back I’ve never met or seen single person from municipality taking the meter readings meaning I I have to pay estimated readings plus the old debt left by the old man even though he was an indigent.People are living in houses/premises left by their deceased parents with municipal debt where anonymous percentage is unemployed and can’t afford to pay those old debts.in conclusion please MMC give us the zero status on water debt to enable us to register our properties/Houses properly