uMsunduzi: Non-paying residents, businesses to blame for cash crunch
uMsunduzi says the blame for the city’s cash crunch should be directly
placed on business and residents who refuse to pay rates and taxes.
Concerns are mounting over the struggling municipality’s financial health following a recent assessment by the National Treasury.
The assessment found that while service delivery continues to be on the decline, the state of financial governance remains somewhat sound.
City Manager Lulamile Mapholoba says they've requested for assistance from the Department of Cooperative Governance to force government entities to settle their debts.
He says while the city is focused on collecting some outstanding debts, the issue of fraud and corruption cannot be ignored.
READ: Mchunu warns KZN water boards involved in corruption
"We have moved a lot in terms of paying out creditors from around 160 days to 145 days. It's a matter that we are doing everything to ensure that we honour our invoices that are due. We got a payment arrangement with Umgeni Water and for Eskom, we've applied for a debt relief so we can start recovering."
He says new meters will be installed to solve the issue of non-payment.
"We are also installing new metres for water and sanitation because that has been a major problem in terms of ensuring that people honour their commitments. So we are being tough, we are switching off the water, cutting the electricity to residents who aren't paying."
