MM admits accounts are in shambles

Residents of Makhado (Louis Trichardt) seem to concur on one important matter - municipal accounts are in shambles.

The mayor of the Makhado Municipality, Cllr David Mutavhatsindi, said that the municipal billing system is a national problem. The municipal manager, Mr Sakkie Mutshinyali, admitted that municipal accounts are in shambles. The ratepayers put that very fact on the table, time and again.

“We as ratepayers always have to run to the municipality to have accounts corrected. We recently had an account of R240 000 for one of our members. We managed to get it down to R20 000. I still doubt the correctness of even that reduced amount. Nobody could explain to us why the additional amounts were there and who had put them there. We really find you need a blood pressure pill when you open your municipal account,” said Ms Inga Gilfillan, chairperson of the Soutpansberg Ratepayers Association (SRPA), at their annual general meeting on 22 August. 

Two weeks ago, the SRPA was shown an account where the member was charged property rates on a garage “valued “ at R100 000, in addition to the property rates on the flat where the member resides. 

The municipal manager said that he had been dealing with the hard issues and has not yet gone "deep into the soft issues, which are in shambles", of which the municipal accounts are one.

Tariffs that are “too high” are another one. Mr Anton Pretorius said that he only received a municipal account every three months or so and that he was consequently charged for most of the usage on the highest scale of the inclining block electricity tariff.  Gilfillan said the inclining block tariff was not according to the municipal policy. Muthsinyali responded that if the inclining block tariff was not supported by the policy, then either the policy would have to be amended or the way the municipality charged would have to be changed. “The ratepayers say that the tariffs are too high and my electrical department says they are too low,” Muthsinyali said and added that he would have to ask for a report on the different issues.

Ms Lani Senekal, SRPA manager, said that some ratepayers who had a credit on their account did not receive their statements. “The municipality told me that they did not have paper to send an account to someone who was in credit. The ratepayers still want their statements, even if they are in credit,” Senekal said. “It is unacceptable,” the municipal manager said at the meeting. “To sort out accounts often presents us with a crisis. In the same breath, I want to appeal to our ratepayers to pay timeously before the 6th of the month,” said Senekal. Last week,  SRPA secretary Ms Loureth Otto reported that residents had not yet received their mailed accounts this month.

The mayor said the municipality was working on account problems. “It is now only individual cases. It is no longer a crisis,” Mutavhatsindi said.

The municipality’s communications department regularly refrains from answering any media questions pertaining to individual accounts. It seems as though officials do not always communicate reverses or payments to other relevant officials and settled debts reappear again and again, resulting in power cuts or threats thereof. Questions on these issues were first asked on 31 March this year and, despite many follow-ups, have not yet been answered.

News - Date: 12 September 2014

Linda van der Westhuizen

Linda van der Westhuizen has been with Zoutnet since 2001. She has a heart for God, people and their stories. Linda believes that every person is unique and has a special story to tell. It follows logically that human interest stories is her speciality. Linda finds working with people and their leaders in the economic, educational, spiritual and political arena very rewarding. “I have a special interest in what God is doing in our town, province and nation and what He wants us to become,” says Linda.

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