CRADOCK AND MIDDELBURG NEWS - The DA Caucus Leader of the Inxuba Yethemba District, Monde Desha, submitted a motion to the Inxuba Yethemba Council on 14 March, with regard to the arrears rates and taxes payments that led to the electricity blockages in this municipality.
"Even though the Eastern Cape is the poorest province in the country, the Inxuba Yethemba Municipality continues to financially burden already struggling residents with the incorrect and late billing of municipal accounts," he stated.
He further says that multiple residents of towns such as Cradock and Middelburg are unemployed and are unable to pay the alleged incorrect and sky-high municipal accounts they receive. Some residents' electricity supply has been cut for 49 days now.
It is for this reason that Desha submitted a motion to council in terms of Rule 21 of the Standing Rules of the Inxuba Yethemba Municipal Council requesting that the municipality amend certain clauses in its Credit Control and Debt Collection policy.
Currently, the policy prefers a 25% settlement of arrears while Desha is requesting that the arrears settlement amount be reduced to a 15% deposit payment. "In cases where the arrears amount exceeds R80 000, the monthly payment must be spread over a 24-month period," he suggested.
Desha said the collapse of local infrastructure, the contracting local economy, the inability of residents to pay, inaccurate billing and poor credit control, as well as customer dissatisfaction due to poor municipal service delivery are the main factors cited by the residents of Cradock and Middelburg causing households to default on municipal payments.
Desha also says that the high cost of food and transportation and sustaining debt are leading to a rise in financial insecurity in some households. These families experience that the cost of living is rising against a fixed salary, which leaves most people with less disposable income and very limited resources.
"If the municipality doesn't have the financial and human resources to upgrade and employ more sophisticated administrative and billing systems, it should consider outsourcing the function as it is permissible in terms of Section 76(b) of the Municipal Systems Act," he suggested.
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