Mogale City Local Municipality has slapped residents with excessive and unaffordable municipal bills citing extended reading cycles or budgetary increases.
Many residents were shocked to receive their municipal account statement which showed a 100%+ from average usage on their August accounts and were dismayed that the September invoice is also unaffordable and extremely high.
This is contrary to the explanation given by the municipality that extended reading cycles one month will be offset by reduced reading cycles the following month.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has already embarked on a wide campaign in Mogale City to ascertain and collect accounts statements to collate the information to submit it to the office of the Public Protector and South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) to establish whether Section 33 of the Constitution is being upheld, namely the promotion of just administrative action.
The DA wrote to the Municipal Manager, CFO, Executive Mayor, MMC for Finance and Municipal Speaker requesting relief for the residents, but no adequate caring action from the ANC-led government has been forthcoming.
As detailed in the brief delivered to the Council on 26 August 2021, should any residents find themselves prejudiced by credit control measures without the municipality correctly verifying the consumption, the DA will utilize all legal frameworks available, to protect residents from being milked like cash cows.
The buck stops with the Executive and it is about time the residents take back their power and support a caring, honest, accountable and transparent DA government.
With the DA at the helm, added mechanisms will be put in place to ensure that all usage is correct and verifiable, as well as ensuring that billing is consistent, further allowing households to budget accordingly and plan for financial stability.
On Friday 17 September 2021, at 11h00 the DA will be handing over a memorandum of demands to Mogale City Local Municipality, calling for the protection of residents from unjust administrative action.
Together, united, we will win.