Though Deputy Mayor Eugene Modise was upbeat about the reception and response he got during his visit to Mamelodi to discuss the problematic rent issue with local residents, President of Mamelodi Concerned Residents For Service Delivery Oupa Mtshwene insists that several issues have not been resolved.
The meeting was attended by MKP, EFF, PCC members and community members at large including different Chiefs across Mamelodi.
Residents were given opportunity to ask the deputy mayor questions and got clarity.
EFF activist Sub region 5 Bongani Ramontja also explained to residents about issues of relocation, form C, backroom dwellers.
Modise addressed residents at a community meeting held at the local Moretele Park pleasure resort on Sunday morning.
“One of the issues which the community had previously raised with the Municipality is the issue of amnesty and that has now been taken care of, but there are lies being spread that people are going to lose their house,” he said.
Regarding the tampering (bridging) of electricity meters, Modise announced that those who come forward and confess that they have “bridged” their meters won’t be fined anything at all as their fines will fall away and new meters will be installed in their homes.
They won’t be fined R29 000 as had previously been announced by the Municipality but said residents must come forth before 31 March 2025 in this regard, while for debt relief applications the cutoff date is 31 May 2025.
He warned residents to stop taking advice from people who encourage them not to pay their monthly municipal bills.
According to Modise, when compared to all other areas in Tshwane, Mamelodi is the township where most people – about 6000 – responded to the call to come forward and make payment arrangements as required by the City of Tshwane Municipality.
On the issue of the deceased estates, their debts will be scrapped and lawyers from Tshwane University of Technology will render free services to residents for transfer of property at the Deeds office.
He said those in the indigent (POP) programme will have their statuses reviewed every year because a person may be unemployed in the one year but get employed in the next.
He said the Municipality will soon bring “a one-stop shop event whereby several municipal services like billing, credit control and indigent programme will be brought to the community of Mamelodi at the same time.”
[caption id="attachment_8961" align="alignnone" width="1024"]
President of Mamelodi Concern Residents For Service Delivery Oupa Mtshweni
He said he was glad that a sizeable component of the community is happy and understanding, and that “the municipality will attend to the matter of illegal squatter camps and the services that they use for free because those squatter camp residents are stealing services from our people and that doesn’t sit well with us.”
President of Mamelodi Concerned Residents for Service Delivery Oupa Mtshwene appreciated the fact that Deputy Mayor Eugene Modise had honoured the residents’ invitation to a meeting but pointed out that though various issues were discussed with the Deputy Mayor, no conclusion was reached on some of them.
He stressed that “the Municipality must first sort out the mess that is prevailing at the squatter camps of Mamelodi as those living there don’t pay for municipal services.”
He emphasised that rent debts must be scrapped for all people of Mamelodi because the problem of rent debts stems from incorrect, estimated billing system which affected all the people of Mamelodi and not only those that the Municipality regard as indigents.
He said the newly installed electricity meters were already proving to be problematic as some residents have already indicated that the said meters run fast and cost them a lot of money.
Mtshwene said most of the residents living in the squatter camps of Mamelodi are not original citizens of the township but are foreigners and people who come from places like Limpopo.
He said all squatter camps must be abolished to give way to the construction of proper RDP houses for the original residents of Mamelodi.
He expressed anger at the fact that the Municipality is offering free services to squatter camp dwellers while the original residents of the township who live in four-roomed houses are the only ones expected to pay for exorbitant municipal services.
“How can the Municipality offer free electricity and water to squatter camp dwellers who are not registered with the Municipality?” he asked.
“If the Municipality offers free services to the squatter camp dwellers, then it must also offer free services to bona fide residents of Mamelodi,” enthused Mtshwene.
David Mogale of SNS is dissatisfied that the rent debt will be scrapped based on whether one is employed or not employed.
“We want zero-zero on our accounts so that we can start afresh with a flat rate which the Municipality must negotiate with every individual,” said Mogale.
He said during the days of apartheid everybody knew how much they had to pay in rent and could budget for it, but these days it is difficult to budget for rent as one cannot anticipate as to how much they will have to pay, because the rent bill flactuates and if one misses out on paying rent in a certain month, the following month’s bill gets out of all proportions and makes it impossible for one to catch up with one’s debt.
Pensioner Lesiba Lebelo of D6 said he has been an occupant of the four-roomed municipal house since 1959 and had been under the impression that the houses belonged to them now as they have bought them, but the bill he is supposed to pay still looks like he is not the owner of the house; that the house still belongs to the City of Tshwane Municipality.
He expressed hope that the Deputy Mayor will keep his promise and scrap the rent debts of pensioners.
Zoe Mabaso of Ward 67 expressed satisfaction regarding the Deputy Mayor’s announcement that child-headed households and pensioners will be given preference and get the necessary assistance.
“I hope that City officials in the offices will adhere to what the Deputy Mayor said today regarding child-headed households and pensioners and act accordingly, because we understand that once we visit municipal offices, it is not the Mayor or the Deputy Mayor who will be there to help us but the said officials,” said Mabaso.
“For a long time now, we have been complaining that some City officials are very rude, and many pensioners are complaining about Social Workers who refuse to enroll them on the Indigent Programme (POP), but another main issue is that residents of Mamelodi want to see their rent debts scrapped altogether so they can start afresh at zero-zero,” enthused Mabaso.