Durban - The alarming extent of the culture of non-payment in the Msunduzi Municipality has been revealed in a recent report tabled before the council.
The report focuses on the municipality’s revenue collection campaign, named Operation Qoqimali, which has seen the municipality placing consumers and businesses on terms to pay their accounts or face the disconnection of services.
The initiative, which started in September last year, has enabled the municipality to collect millions of rand in the process, but also revealed the extent of the culture of non-payment.
“Most of the properties (approximately 70%) are tampering with either electricity or water installations, and in some cases they are tampering with both services,” read the report.
It cited a lack of co-ordination within the municipality to deal with the challenge, pointing to staff in the Infrastructure Services, Electricity and Revenue divisions as those who needed to work together.
“The disconnecting of services to recover debt will only bear fruit if there is a high strike rate. This can be said about water services because in most cases the meter is outside, however for electricity, it is a little bit of a challenge since the meters in most cases than not, is inside the property,” read the report.
Msunduzi city manager Lulamile Mapholoba said they were taking disciplinary action against some employees who were allegedly part of syndicates that had allowed water and electricity meters to be bypassed.
African Christian Democratic Party councillor Rienus Niemand said the report came as no surprise, but tough decisions needed to be taken at council.
“You see the city is systematically going down the drain, the good guys are getting punished for those not playing their part,” the councillor said.
Anthony Waldhausen of Msunduzi Association of Residents, Ratepayers and Civics said the report merely confirmed what the organisation had always suspected.
“What we want is equal treatment as customers because this thing of some customers paying while others don’t will have negative consequences for the city,” said Waldhausen.
Mapholoba expressed disappointment at what the operation had uncovered.
“It is quite shocking to have such a high number of customers who are not paying, especially when considering that a number of them are businesses,” he said.
“Operation Qoqimali has to be reviewed in order to determine whether it has worked, and the areas that need to be sharpened should it continue. Given what we have so far, the initiative is most likely to continue, maybe with a different name,” said the city manager.