Residents from Maydern Farm in Mthatha are seeking answers from the King Sabatha Dalindyebo (KSD) Local Municipality in Mthatha, following letters they received from the municipality demanding they pay substantial amounts of money recently.
One of the residents, Nomabhelu Gqongo (80), said her letter demanded that she pay R15 000 within 14 days, or her electricity would be terminated.
According to Gqongo, she lives with her seven children, including grandchildren, who are unemployed. They all depend on her pension grant.
“I have been living in this house for more than five years. It is my first time receiving a letter stating that I owe the municipality.
“It is the first time I have received a letter. The letter states that we should pay, but does not explain exactly what we must pay for. I am not going to pay, because I do not have this money. When we were given these houses, we were not told that there would be payments to make,” said Gqongo.
According to her, the municipality does not collect rubbish in their area; they burn it in their yards, so she is confused about what is happening. Another resident (who needs to remain anonymous), said that she started living in this area in July 2023.
“I was given that room by the municipality. It does not have electricity, the rubbish is not collected by the municipality, and we do not even have access roads in our area.
“Above all, the municipality is saying we must pay rates, so I want them to tell us exactly what we must pay for. The letter I received demands that I pay R2 117. The municipality says if I fail to pay this amount within 14 days, they will send someone to switch off the electricity, and the electrician that will be sent by them will be paid by me,” she said.
Another resident, Nomfundo Obose, said that they do not know what they are supposed to pay for. She confirmed that she is not working and only depends on her pension grant.
She said ever since she arrived in this area in 2017, she had never seen the municipality truck coming to collect rubbish.
“We want them to tell us exactly what is going on. Why are we receiving these letters? We thought we were given these houses for free; now we are shocked that we are being treated like this.
“We think the municipality has a financial problem, so it is now trying to get that money by threatening us,” said Obose. The chairperson for community members from Maydern Farm, Siyabonga Mbangatha, said that they had tried several times to speak with the municipality about this problem.
“Even last month, we went to this municipality trying to negotiate with the Mayor for King Sabatha Dalindyebo (KSD) Local Municipality, Councillor Nyaniso Nelani, asking that the issue of people who do not have electricity be solved. Instead of solving that, we are now receiving these letters, yet we were waiting for them to give us feedback as they promised that we would get in November,” said Mbangatha.
According to him, they do not have streets and there is sewage next to their houses, but no one is taking care of these things.
“We held a meeting with Nelani in 2021. He promised that the debts would be cleared, but now we are shocked that we are in this situation. We have approached our lawyers about this.”
Spokesperson for King Sabatha Dalindyebo (KSD) Local Municipality, Sonwabo Mampoza, said that the RDP houses are being charged for services, like, refuse collection and fire levy. He said these houses are exempted from rates, but if there are improvements and the value is over R60 000, they are liable for rate taxes.
“Those who cannot afford to pay for these services, because they are receiving a state pension or R350 as an income, the municipality has an indigent programme to assist them upon application to register as indigent. There is a threshold for household income. “The billing is for 2024 and the previous years since they acquired the title deed for the properties. An awareness campaign has been done through their ward councillors in terms of municipal policies and incentives,” said Mampoza.
He said that the debt depends on the date of acquiring the title deed. Mampoza said that people come and apply for being indigent, then indigent officials send the list to a verification service provider to verify their applications, After the results have come, the office will add all those that have been approved into the indigent register.
Qualification criteria
- The applicant must be a resident within the KSD municipal area.
- The applicant must be in possession of a valid South African identity document.
- Currently, the income amount is deemed to be less or equal to the amount received by two state pensioners. (verification of the household).
- The applicant must be the owner who receives municipal services and is registered as an account holder on the municipal financial system. In the event that the applicant is not the owner, reasons for that, as well as supporting documents, must be provided.
- Any occupant or resident of the single household referred to above may not own more than one property in addition to the property in respect of which indigent support is provided. (property whose value is more than one million will be subsidised 50 percent).
- A tenant can only apply for the benefits in respect of the charges he/she is billed for, while the landlord remains liable for all ownership-related charges, such as rates.
