The City of Ekurhuleni is on an aggressive debt collection campaign.
The City of Ekurhuleni council will on Thursday debate a motion that could have the city scrap the debt of all indigent residents who owe it money.
In a statement on Tuesday, the EFF said it had proposed the motion to protect indigent households from credit control and debt collection measures.
EFF calls on municipality ‘not to criminalise poverty’
The party said it also wants to ensure that the municipality’s Credit Control and Debt Collection Policy complies with the Indigent Support Policy.
“It is both contradictory and unjust for residents who have been formally verified and approved as indigent to continue appearing as debtors. The city’s policies are clear: indigent households qualify for subsidised basic services and their qualifying debt must be written off administratively.
“Yet vulnerable families continue to face threats of disconnections, harassment and financial distress due to administrative failures and delays,” said the EFF’s Gauteng chairperson Nkululeko Dunga.
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Deployment of field workers
Dunga said the motion is also calling for the proper deployment of newly appointed indigent field workers to assist elderly residents, persons living with disabilities and child-headed households with registration and compliance processes.
“The objective is to expand access to indigent support – not to criminalise poverty. This intervention follows the ongoing struggles of residents in Thembisa and other townships across Ekurhuleni who are demanding fairness, dignity and uninterrupted access to basic services.”
Dunga said the EFF maintains that poverty must never be treated as a crime, and that municipalities must distinguish between those who cannot pay and those who deliberately refuse to pay.
“The EFF will continue to use its presence in council to defend the poor and to ensure that municipal policies are implemented in a manner that advances social justice and economic freedom in our lifetime,” he said.
Tensions with Thembisa residents
The motion comes at a time when Thembisa residents and the City of Ekurhuleni are at loggerheads over the money owed to the city for municipal rates and services.
Reports suggest that the city is owed over R30 billion.
Government must also pay
Meanwhile, the ACDP in the City of Ekurhuleni also wants the Gauteng provincial government to pay outstanding debt to the municipality.
According to the ACDP’s Palesa Yates, the Gauteng provincial government owes the municipality R123 million.
“Ekurhuleni is also footing a bill of over R1.4 billion per year to fund primary healthcare clinics on behalf of the province.
“Government’s red-carpet mentality must end. Residents are struggling,” she said.
The Citizen contacted the MMC of Finance Jongizizwe Dlabathi for comment on the EFF’s motion. His comment will be added when it is received.
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