Unpaid debt not accumulated from incorrect metre readings - Msunduzi
The Msunduzi Municipality denies the R2-billion owed to it by ratepayers is due to metre readings not being done properly or at all.
It says it's received queries and has picked up on media reports suggesting a number of metres in residential areas - including Vulindlela - are not being read monthly - thus creating a revenue shortfall.
The municipality's Thobeka Mafumbatha insists the debt is due to residents either not being able to afford to pay or refusing to pay the municipality.
"There are a lot of losses with regards to money that is not being paid to the municipalities by consumers. What we have discovered is that most of people who are not paying is due to lack of accountability - these are the people coming from the rural areas which is the Vulindlela area. There are also businesses that are not paying their bills. That is what's amounted to that total," she says.
Last month, Msunduzi announced discounts of 50 to 100% to ratepayers who arrange to settle their debt by January 4.
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