The City of Johannesburg has urged residents to continue paying for water and lights services as it grapples with financial issues caused by the coronavirus lockdown.<\/p>\n
The city said that it ‘escaped a total service delivery shutdown’ during the Covid-19 pandemic, mainly because of ratepayers who kept their municipal accounts up to date ahead of the lockdown.<\/p>\n
“One of the greatest impacts of Covid-19 included the financial\u00a0devastation that saw many ratepayers unable to pay their municipal bills, while the municipality was also unable to pass the 2020\/21 Budget on time due to the lockdown.<\/p>\n
“As a result, the continued supply of water and electricity, as well as waste collection services across Johannesburg communities, was placed at risk,” it said.<\/p>\n
The city said that it faces major service delivery issues if customers continue to fail to pay for services.<\/p>\n
“The non-payment for municipal services consumed by residents poses a significant threat to the continuation of basic service delivery and exposes the city to increased water and electricity load shedding interruptions designed to balance demand and supply.”<\/p>\n
The city said that its refuse removal service Pikitup may also be forced to reduce waste collection frequency schedules in some areas in a bid to cut costs.<\/p>\n
“The city has been going to great length in building\u00a0up the 2020\/21 budget, which is mostly made up of revenue collected from municipal\u00a0services\u00a0rendered, grants and municipal taxes.<\/p>\n
“However, with revenue collection still at a low, continuous service delivery is still at risk, and therefore requires that ratepayers who can afford to pay to do so.”<\/p>\n
Johannesburg resumed full credit measures<\/a><\/strong> on outstanding municipal accounts on 24 August as it aimed to recuperate losses from the lockdown.<\/p>\n The city said it will offer some credit-control assistance to ratepayers who have been hit hard by the lockdown include payment arrangement plans \u2013\u00a0 smaller instalments over a longer period of time.<\/p>\n Since the beginning of the lockdown, the City said it has been affording ratepayers relaxed payment terms.<\/p>\n \u201cRatepayers who need to enter into a payment arrangement may send their requests to\u00a0creditcontrol@joburg.org.za<\/a>\u00a0or visit their nearest customer service centre across the City\u2019s regions,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
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