Municipal amnesty calls on customers to comply

Msunduzi Local Municipality in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, this week launched its amnesty campaign as it aims to recover some of the R2 billion it is owed by customers for electricity, water and rates.

Announcing the amnesty yesterday, Msunduzi executive mayor Themba Njilo appealed to customers to take advantage of the amnesty which will run for three months. He told a media briefing the amnesty is aimed at, among others, dealing with financial losses resulting from unmetred and unbilled services and providing an opportunity to register indigent households so that they can get discounts on basic services.

The municipality currently has 180 000 customers on its database and it is believed that the number will increase once customers apply for the amnesty and get registered.

“I would like to encourage customers to apply for amnesty during the open period,” said Njilo, warning of tougher sanctions once the amnesty window period had lapsed. After the amnesty, the mayor said there would be a council-wide audit and defaulters would be identified and dealt with.

“The municipality can charge a penalty as contained in the Register of Tariffs and recover up to 36 months of lost revenue,” said the mayor.

The amnesty will target customers enjoying municipal services but are not paying for them; customers receiving services but are not registered in the billing system; and customers that receive unmetered or metered services but are not paying the municipality. –