Msunduzi Municipality
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Senior officials in the Msunduzi Municipality are considering establishing a “special force” that could enter “no-go” areas to assist municipal staff in conducting revenue collection initiatives. They stated that certain areas of the municipality have become no-go areas, making it impossible for the municipality to collect debt owed by customers in those regions.
The officials, led by Mayor Mzimkhulu Thebolla, appeared before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) on Wednesday, where they briefed the committee on matters of governance.
The Msunduzi delegation, which had 16 people, came under fire from the Scopa committee. The committee complained that the delegation, which had travelled to Cape Town, was too large and viewed its size as a waste of resources.
The municipality detailed its challenges with revenue collection, stating that the city is “facing severe financial difficulties.” It said despite aggressive collection tactics, it is still owed close to R10 billion by ratepayers.
Nelly Ngcobo, the CFO, revealed that of the R9.8 billion owed, 14% is from businesses, and 80% is from households, while the government accounts for 3%, and other debtors are approximately 3%.
“What is assisting is the auditing of electricity meters, which is starting to yield results, and we are hoping that collections from water will also help with revenue collection. We have appointed a service provider to ensure they maximise water revenue.”
Detailing other efforts to collect the revenue owed, she revealed that the municipality has initiated nearly 27,000 legal actions against those who owe, and they have obtained default judgments. It had obtained more than 800 warrants of execution against movable property against some customers. She said some government departments have started paying, with Public Works paying close to R29 million for the next few months while the Department of Education has entered into an arrangement with the municipality.
Ngcobo spoke of the challenges they are facing in collection, pointing out that there are areas that have become impossible to collect from. The city revealed that the water debt is standing at R4 million, and most of this debt is concentrated in the areas of Imbali and Edendale township, which have become 'no-go' areas for municipal staff.
It said the most effective way to collect is disconnection, which they are unable to do because their staff is being intimidated and threatened by the community. Ngcobo stated that they require a “special force” to enter these areas, as the current municipal security is not capable of protecting staff when going into these volatile neighbourhoods.
The municipality told Scopa that they need security forces to access certain areas of the municipality where there is a high rate of non-payment for services.
Msunduzi mayor, Mzimkhulu Thebolla, told the committee that in some cases, there have been councillors who have instigated community members into creating “no-go” areas for city workers looking to disconnect services for non-payment. “We can say that one of the councillors who had instigated the community has been removed by his party,” Thebolla added.
ActionSA MP Alan Beesley said the situation cannot be tolerated.
The Msunduzi Association of Residents, Ratepayers and Civics said: “They created this problem by leaving non-paying communities untouched for years – afraid to act, or worse, unwilling to lose votes. If threats are real, use existing police and by-law enforcement equally across all areas.”
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