Double trouble
KNYSNA - The DA has called on Knysna Municipality to urgently refund double debit orders which appeared on residents' latest municipal accounts.
The municipality’s communications department has responded, saying the municipality has received confirmation from its bankers that they are prioritising the resolution of this matter within their seven-day standard operating procedure.
Knysna Municipality's communications department said, "As outlined in our previous communications, we took immediate action when the error occurred.
“A genuine error occurred, and it would be misleading to assume malicious intent. We sincerely apologise to our customers for any inconvenience caused."
DA Caucus Leader Levael Davis said in a media statement released on 5 February that the ANC/PA/EFF/PBI coalition government in Knysna Municipality put out communication apologising for the error on accounts of Friday 2 February. "The DA in Knysna demands that municipal leadership immediately intervene and refund the duplicate payments to all impacted residents," he said.
"Numerous residents had two payments debited from their bank accounts for their monthly municipal bills. Residents were assured that they would immediately be refunded, but Council has failed to return the money. It is unfair towards our residents, especially pensioners and families who cannot afford to have a double debit going off their account. This potentially caused financial hardship and inconvenience for many of our residents."
He said Council needs to come clean if they are unable to refund these residents and why.
"Residents should not suffer more than they already do from Council's sheer incompetence. We are putting the governing ANC/PA/EFF/PBI on notice to pay up and relieve the financial strain their incompetence has brought to battling households. Given the significant disruption, we ask that these refunds be made urgently. We will also request an internal audit investigation to identify the cause of this 'error' to ensure those responsible are held to account," said Davis.