The DA in Ekurhuleni Welcomes the Executive Mayor’s Solutions to resolve the impasse in Thembisa

by Cllr Khathutshelo Rasilingwane — DA Ekurhuleni Caucus Deputy Chief Whip & Cllr Tiaan Kotzé — DA Ekurhuleni Caucus Deputy Chairperson

Date: 05 August 2022

Release: Immediate

Type: Media statement

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Ekurhuleni welcomes the action plan laid out by the Executive Mayor, Ald Tania Campbell, in the public feedback meeting held on the 05 August 2022, to respond to the needs of the residents in Thembisa.

The Executive Mayor in her speech expressed condolences on behalf of herself and government to the families who lost their loved ones during the violent protest that erupted on Monday. A moment of silence was observed in respect of these residents. The Executive Mayor also empathised with the frustrations and anxiety of residents brought upon by the impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, the increase in unemployment, the rising costs of living, and the state of the economy of our country.

Instead of simply paying lip service to the residents’ complaints, the Executive Mayor apologised for not having addressed residents much earlier by bringing tangible solutions on behalf of the Multi-Party Coalition Government with targeted measures to respond to their memorandum.

These measures include:

• The restoration of electricity following the destruction of the substation a few days ago.
• Debt relief measures through the City’s Debt Rehabilitation Programme from the 1 July 2022 to 31 March 2023, which will provide a 50% write-off on historic debt in excess of one year on date of approval — which is inclusive of rates, service charges, interest and other costs.
• The rectifying of incorrect or inaccurate billing by ensuring the separation of water, sanitation, rates, and taxes from the electricity bill.
• The review of the City’s indigent policy to ensure that all residents who qualify for the subsidy can be assisted. The City will host a two-week service delivery open day with the Finance, Health and Social Development Departments to assist all residents with indigent applications. While the process unfolds, the City has resolved to stop any disconnections and declines of indigent applications for the next 90 days.
• An urgent item will be tabled in Council to review the indigent policy. The policy review process will focus on increasing the property value threshold for qualifying indigent applicants to ensure that more residents qualify for the free basic services provided within the indigent social relief package.
• The opportunity for residents to object on incorrect valuations of properties through the Section 78 process.
• The removal of administration and cut-off notice charges, by rolling out an SMS system to notify residents when their accounts are in arrears.
• The clean-up of illegal dumping and the distribution of 27 000 wheelie bins to households in the area over the next few days.
• Engaging with Provincial and National government to find a solution to the restrictions on the provision of 100kws of free basic units. 50kws will still be provided to residents per the indigent relief policy.
• Improving customer care services by increasing operating hours and investigating incidents of bribery, corruption, and collusion in Customer Care Centres.
• Providing a new facility to service residents after the Customer Care Centre was burned down in the wake of the unrest.
• The re-evaluation of tariffs on a case-by-case basis to ensure that residents are billed under the correct tariffs. This includes the investigation of external vendor charges to ensure that residents aren’t overcharged.
• Training of all ward committee members across the City to ensure that every ward has a functioning ward committee that residents and ward councillors can use to drive issues.

The efforts announced by the Executive Mayor shows the commitment of the Multi-Party Coalition Government to get the basics right in service delivery. The DA looks forward to the rollout of these measures not only in the community of Thembisa, but across the Metro. The Democratic Alliance in Ekurhuleni echoes the sentiments of the Executive Mayor when she said in her speech that: “We should forge long lasting amicable relations with communities”, “find ways to protect the most vulnerable citizens in our city” and “make sure that we uphold our social compact with our residents” as we work to improve service delivery in the City.

The DA continues to support the Back to Basics approach to restore adequate service delivery in the City of Ekurhuleni by the Multi-Party Coalition Government.

Media Enquiries

Cllr Khathutshelo Rasilingwane

DA Ekurhuleni Caucus Deputy Chief Whip

072 666 1706

Cllr Tiaan Kotzé

DA Ekurhuleni Caucus Deputy Chairperson

079 893 8404