The City of Johannesburg is intensifying its efforts to reduce its nearly R61 billion consumer debt by targeting the municipality’s worst defaulters.
Project Lokisa will be an aggressive debt recovery focusing on the city’s biggest defaulters, particularly large electricity and water consumers with properties valued above R100 million, high-valued residential properties valued at more than R5m, businesses, government departments, and state-owned entities.
According to the National Treasury’s latest available figures, as of the end of December last year, the country’s eight metropolitan municipalities were owed more than R206bn, with households responsible for about R154bn, businesses almost R43bn while the debt owed by organs of state stood at R7.73bn.
In total, municipal consumer debt across the country was just over R405bn, with households about 72% (or R291.1bn) and the government 5.6% (R22.7bn).
This week, the City of Joburg announced the launch of Project Lokisa, which means to fix or sort out, and the municipality described it as a multifaceted approach aiming to claw back the money owed for municipal services by the worst defaulters.
The large scale and bold reform also aims to improve revenue recovery and ensure the municipality’s financial sustainability.
Acting group head of revenue and shared Malope Ramagaga said Project Lokisa will encompass the implementation of large-scale disconnection operations across the city, targeting mostly worst defaulters, with an intense focus on illegal connections and the constant monitoring of the impact of disconnection on customers.
Ramagaga also indicated that under Project Lokisa, changes will be introduced to the process of issuing clearance certificates when owners sell their properties.
He said this was to ensure that the municipality does not lose money owed for municipal services by the seller when they finally put their property on sale.
“A clearance certificate will be provided to the transferring attorney and the customer with a notice of the total amount owing above 90 days. Attorneys will be given notice to sign an acknowledgment of debt, which will authorise direct payment to the city from the sale proceeds,” Ramagaga explained.
The municipality has urged all property owners and businesses to settle their outstanding accounts or alternatively make payment arrangements to avoid disconnections and legal action.
loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za
