uMvoti Municipality's revenue collection drive: electricity disconnections for defaulters
The uMvoti Municipality in Greytown has intensified its revenue collection efforts.
Image: File
The uMvoti Municipality in Greytown has embarked on an aggressive revenue collection initiative to ensure that ratepayers pay their debt.
The municipality said the campaign, currently in its third week, targets individuals, businesses, and government institutions with outstanding municipal bills. Those who fail to pay will have their electricity disconnected.
It said the move is aimed to enhance the municipality’s financial health and sustainability while preventing service deterioration.
The municipality said that in June this year it launched a debt incentive scheme that presented consumers with relief and payment options to avoid the disconnection of services.
It said customers received multiple communications through SMS notifications, public and newspaper notices, as well as social media announcements, encouraging them to pay their bills to avoid being disconnected.
It said only after these attempts to prompt payment of outstanding bills did the disconnections take effect.
Municipal Manager, Noxolo Ndaba, said that municipalities have established guidelines and legal frameworks for recovering unpaid accounts, which are governed by several legislations.
“The Municipal Systems Act (No.32 of 2000) Section 96 mandates municipalities to collect all revenue due and adopt a credit control and debt policy. The policy includes procedures for disconnection of services, debt repayment agreements, and debt collection protocols, while the Municipal Finance Management Act (No.56 of 2003) (MFMA) mandates municipalities to implement robust revenue collection strategies, which include enforcing debt recovery measures.”
“Our revenue collection drive is guided by such legislation and by the administration’s long-term strategic goal to improve financial sustainability to not only enhance but to ultimately fund service delivery, thereby improving the lives of our consumers and residents,” she added.
The municipality said that disconnections for defaulting customers will continue in the Greytown and Kranskop central business districts this week led by deputy mayor, MR Dlamini.
Commenting on the initiative, Mayor Gabriel Malembe said: “As uncomfortable as the disconnections may be for our consumers, I want to assure them that this revenue collection drive is for the greater good of all of us.
“This is not a ‘war’ against individuals or businesses, but an effort by the council to ensure the municipality’s financial sustainability, which will have positive spin-offs from both a service delivery and development perspective.”
The municipality added that its debt incentive scheme is still open.