Relief for residents with Ekurhuleni’s Debt Rehabilitation Incentive

by Cllr. Alta de Beer — DA Member of the Finance Oversight Committee in Ekurhuleni

Date: 27 May 2022

Release: Immediate

Type: Media statement

Residents of The City of Ekurhuleni can breathe a sigh of relief following debt rehabilitation incentives announced by MMC for Finance and Economic Development, Cllr. Fana Nkosi, during the passing of the budget for 2022/23.

The City’s residents have had to endure hard times recently following the negative economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as rising petrol and fuel costs as a result of increasing inflation and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. For these reasons, the Democratic Alliance (DA) in Ekurhuleni welcomes the administration of the Multi-Party Coalition’s interventions to assist our cash-strapped residents who are battling to get up to date on their municipal accounts.

The incentives include the following:

• A 50% write-off of debt in excess of one year on the date of application approval — inclusive of rates, service charges, interest and other costs.
• The balance of the account on the date of application approval, excluding the current account and after the 50% write-off, will be placed in a consolidated arrangement account to be written off incrementally over a three-year period.

This scheme will be available to qualifying applicants from 1 July 2022 until the 31st of March 2023 and applies to residential properties within the value category of less than R1 500 000. This benefit will be applicable to property owners, tenants and deceased estates properties occupied by immediate family.

Importantly, the DA encourages those residents who can afford to pay to bring their accounts up to date and the Department should implement credit control measures accordingly. A blanket write-off is unfortunately financially unsustainable for the Metro.

The DA welcomes these incentives and applauds the Multi-Party Coalition who have proved that they are in touch and sympathetic to the City’s residents.

Cllr. Alta de Beer

DA Member of the Finance Oversight Committee in Ekurhuleni