COMMUNITY LEADERS MUST BE RESPONSIBLE AND NOT COME WITH A MENTALITY OF NOT LISTENING TO US – TSHWANE MAYOR

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By Dimakatso Modipa

City of Tshwane Mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya and deputy chief whip Sabelo Marishane during the imbizo in Atteridgeville photo by Dimakatso Modipa
City of Tshwane Mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya and deputy chief whip Sabelo Marishane during the imbizo in Atteridgeville photo by Dimakatso Modipa

“We will talk to community leaders, but they must not come with a mentality that indicates they don’t want to talk to us,” fumed City of Tshwane Mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya.

She said this in response to sentiments expressed generally by community leaders in Tshwane who apparently incite residents not to pay their monthly municipal rents/accounts, or in the case they want to pay, to pop out a “flat rate” amount of R40 or R50.

The Mayor was on a Mayoral Imbizo in Atteridgeville to hear the grievances of the community regarding the Tshwane Metro on Saturday.

“Community leaders must be responsible and know that the decisions that we take are governed by the law, and that we are committed to hearing them and in turn they (community leaders) must be prepared to listen to us,” said Mayor Moya.

She emphasised that the City of Tshwane Metro is committed to building a cordial relationship with the Tshwane residents at large, as opposed to an antagonistic one.

“We want residents to give us work to do and in return we must give them feedback,” she said.

Referring to the possible scrapping of debts, the Mayor said the following:

Members of the mayoral committee at the imbizo
Members of the mayoral committee at the imbizo

“We have a debtor’s book which indicates that as the City of Tshwane we are owed R26 billion by our clients in terms of services rendered by the Municipality, and we are going to collect it from those who are indebted to us because we are governed by laws and can’t just write off debts willy-nilly,” she said.

“We must first build a case to Council regarding the R26 billion debt and show which debts are collectable and which are not as indicated by SARS, and that there are indigent households as well as economically active ones,” she said.

She also pointed out that in their analysis of the debtor’s book, they will also look at factors like households whose original owners have passed away but surviving family members can’t transfer ownership of the house due to lack of legal fees.

The Mayor emphasised that the process of writing off debts was not an emotional feeling but a principle.

She referred to the case of the residents of Hammanskraal, whereby their water debts were cancelled as they had not had potable water for 20 years,” she said.

She however hastened to say only water bills would be scrapped and not sanitation and electricity bills for the long-suffering Hammanskraal residents.

“We have heard the residents, we have heard the community leaders, but the decisions that we have to take regarding the Integrated Development Programme (IDP) have to be informed by work that happened in the office and not at what happened at a community hall,” said Moya.

“We can’t just scrap the rent debts because in that way we would be crippling the City of Tshwane Municipality as an institution,” she cautioned.

Residents of Atteridgeville at the imbizo
Residents of Atteridgeville at the imbizo

“We don’t want to be found wanting by the Auditor General who will criticise our decision to scrap debts, and also by residents themselves who will revolt against us for failure to deliver services to them as we will not have funds to do so,” she said.

Moya said as the Metro Municipality they have to raise funds themselves as they don’t get much support from the national government, and that they actually depended on residents to pay their monthly municipal bills.

On the issue of registration for the indigent programme, formerly known as POP, the Mayor boldly stated that some people lie in the affidavits that they submit to the Tshwane Metro, and that Social Workers were embarking on strict verification efforts to expose those who are not honest in their affidavits.

She said some people have tenants in their backrooms and in some instances own businesses and as a result won’t qualify for the indigent programme due to their income.

SACRA chairperson Lucas Makhubele told Tshwane Talks that he was happy about the Mayor’s visit to Atteridgeville as it had been a long time that residents had been longing to engage her regarding their concerns.

“When we are in an Imbizo everyone has the right to speak, but it is also important that we meet with the City of Tshwane Municipality and the Mayor on a one-on-one basis as civic structures, so as to show the Municipality as to what the community needs are,” said Makhubele.

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