Money down a bottomless pothole

To follow up on Tony Ball’s letter regarding free labour in your recent publication (Letters, June 3-9), I ask the question: is it legal to pay a bankrupt or corrupt entity for services that are not rendered?

My municipality, Great Kei, has for years not fixed potholes, it collects garbage when it feels like it, and it cannot issue ratepayers with a properly reconciled account, on time, for payment. It has implemented rates increases incorrectly over the past five years, resulting in an average annual increase of 14.5%.

We have just repaired our potholes ourselves — we fetched the tar, hired the labour, and chopped open and laid the tar ourselves. The municipal act says it is an offence to not pay rates and taxes. Is it not also an offence to not render the service paid for?