DA blames city for unpaid rent
ETHEKWINI municipality has been blamed for the R163 422 unpaid rental that led to a DA ward councillor being locked out of his Chatsworth office.
The lockout meant Anoop Rampersad could not attend to queries and service delivery issues for Ward 77 residents.
He had to plead to get into his office so that he could help people on Tuesday. The landlord later relented because the city eventually reached an agreement with him.
Rampersad said he felt humiliated when he could not gain access to his office. “I was embarrassed because the fiasco unfolded in front of about 30 people.
“People don’t understand that my party is not obliged to pay the rent. It’s the municipality’s duty.”
The councillor said he worked with as many as 120 people in a day seeking help with water, lights and other issues.
“Imagine what would have happened had the office been closed,” Rampersad said.
He said the landlord was angry that the municipality had not paid rent for over a year. The monthly charge is about R5 000.
The Tribune Herald has viewed an invoice reflecting a balance of R163 422 including arrears. Rampersad said he had delivered the invoice to the council Speaker’s office earlier this month and had been promised the matter would be resolved soon.
Rampersad accused the municipality of a lack of support due to party affiliations.
But ethekwini Speaker, William Lekgoa Mapena, blamed the property owner for not clearing his debts with the city. Mapena said the landlord’s business could not be registered on the municipal database as a service provider if it had unsettled debt.
Mapena revealed the landlord had only paid his outstanding dues last month, making him eligible to be listed as a provider of service.
He said the landlord was then asked to get his paperwork in order and register on the municipal supplier database so that invoices could be processed.