TygerBurger De Grendel - 26 June 2019

Page 1

DE GRENDEL

TygerBurger en Media24 het nie ondersoek en vasgestel of enige van die dienste of produkte geadverteer die verlangde resultate of uiteinde sal hê nie. Lesers moet asseblief kennis neem dat sommige van die beloofde resultate in hierdie advertensies buitengewoon is en dalk selfs onmoontlik is om te behaal. Sommige van die prosedures en beloftes geadverteer mag dalk gevaarlik wees indien nie uitgevoer deur 'n gekwalifiseerde mediese praktisyn nie. Lesers word gewa a rs ku d a t h u l l e d i e a d ve r tee rd e r s e geloofwaardigheid en besonderhede deeglik moet ondersoek. TygerBurger en Media24 aanvaar geen aanspreeklikheid vir enige van die geadverteerde dienste of produkte nie. X1U894D6-AL160518

Woensdag, 26 Junie 2019 | Tel: 021 910 6500 | e-pos: nuus@tygerburger.co.za

@TygerBurger

AUDITOR GENERAL: 171 899 INDIGENT BILLS WRITTEN OFF

Is the City profiting from water? DESIRÉE RORKE @dezzierorke

S

ince July 2018 the City’s water and sanitation department has been showing a growing over-recovery of revenue to more than R1bn, followed by a sudden decline in May 2019 to a R267m under-recovery. This was revealed by the civic action group Stop COCT. “This over-recovery could be tracked in the City’s Financial Monitoring Report (FMR) which is produced by the City every month. By October 2018, this over-recovery exceeded R1bn. Stop COCT and various news outlets queried this over-recovery, but were met with blunt responses by the City stating that it was simply not true and that we were spreading false news,” says Sandra Dickson from Stop COCT. (see table 1). This information, she alleges came from the City despite the City’s chief financial officer (CFO) signing the reports stating the over-recovery up to March 2019. “It is understandable that the water revenue decreased as a result of the move from Level 5 to Level 3 in December 2018. This was duly reflected in the January 2019 financial report with a stepped reduction in water revenue as a result of the lower tariffs for Level 3,” she says. But then during March and April 2019, the water revenue moved into a loss. “A reason cited by the City, in minutes from a financial portfolio meeting in June, is that indigent accounts were written off due to a recommendation by the Auditor General. (see insert of minutes). This recommendation stated that the City should not declare revenue for items they expect not to get revenue for. “As a result, the City successfully rever-

sed 171 899 indigent arrears water bills with zero-rated tariffs and during May another 68 000 accounts to have water billing reversed was identified. This brings the total of deemed accounts to be written off to 239 899, says Dickson. This information was derived from a City report on collection ratio and debt management actions in April. In another document, the City’s department of water stated that they identified these 239 899 accounts stating the following criteria: . properties valued under R200 000; . (household) deemed indigent now has zero-rated water bills; . (household) deemed indigent water bills are written off, backdated to 1 July 2018. According to Dickson the sudden change from an over-recovery of R1bn to making a loss for the sale of water is difficult to comprehend. “Stop COCT investigated and suspects that City’s gross over-recovery was as a result, as pointed out by the Auditor General, the billing of people whom the City knew could not pay their accounts,” she says. “Stop COCT warned the City on many occasions that their exuberant water tariffs increases were unsustainable for the public and would lead to this gross over-recovery and now subsequent write-offs. The fact that the City was thus forced to write off these accounts is proof of this. These indigent households were never in a position to pay the increasingly high-water tariffs.” According to Dickson the debt management report, also indicated that an outstanding debt for the City was approaching R10bn during this financial year, before the “write-off”. V To page 4.

TygerBurger

Read, steady, slide!

Television personality Aletté Winkler and her youngest son Lian (9) at the opening of Ice Slides at CapeGate Shopping Centre last week. This magical ice age-themed world features three different toboggan-style ice slides, seven different, life-sized animals that lived during the ice age, set in a background to simulate their natural environment of the time. You can learn all about the woolly mammoth, saber-toothed tiger, Irish elk, terror bird and glyptodon.

021 591 1275

SERVICE KIT SPECIAL FOR

FREE FITMENT

OR

320 VOORTREKKER RD. GOODWOOD (NEXT TO BLUE FLAME)

IF YOU PURCHASE YOUR

BAKKIE INCL. AIR, OIL- & DIESEL FILTER + 5 LT OIL ONLY WWW.CAPEKOREANSPARES.CO.ZA

R1 050

FRONT BRAKE PADS FROM US FOR ONLY

R425

SPECIALS VALID TILL 23 JULY 2019 OR WHILE STOCKS LAST! MON - FRI 8AM - 5PM & SAT 8AM - 12PM X1VHYPA9-AL260619


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.