The Executive Committee approved a report outlining special payment relief due to Covid-19 for customers in arrears during an online meeting held today, 19 May.
The tabled report outlines a proposal to write off accrued debt as a relief to account holders with arrear debt of 90 days or more.
The report notes that the City’s financial position has changed drastically as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown. The City has always had a good collection rate which varied between 95 percent to 105 percent. Before the lockdown on 27 March, the City had a collection rate of 94 percent. The report states that while it was anticipated that cash collection for April would still be on a stable path as customers would have been received their monthly salaries, the collection rate for April however plunged to 56 percent, an ever-low collection rate for the City.
Some measures to provide relief to customers already implemented were outlined. These include no interest being charged on arrear accounts during the lockdown period and no credit control in the form of disconnections conducted during the lockdown.
The report outlined this further measure to provide relief to customers including the initiative to reverse the total interest raised to a customers account if the customer pays 50 percent of their arrears on or before 30 June 2020 with the remainder of the debt to be put on a payment plan which should not exceed 24 months interest free. This incentive will only be offered to customers with debt of 90 days or older.
However, all interest written off will be reinstated where a customer defaults on the payment plan. Existing customers on a payment plan can be offered an opportunity to take part in this incentive as a once-off offering.
CITY’S COVID-19 RELIEF MEASURES IMPLEMENTED IN HOT SPOT AREAS
Progress on the first phase rollout of the interventions taken to combat the spread of Covid-19 in hotspots in the City were outlined in a report tabled during an online Executive Committee meeting held today, 19 May.
The report outlined the next phase of the project which includes the mass sanitisation of common areas in informal settlements and the distribution of hygienic materials at informal settlements, community residential units (CRU’s), rental stock, residential accommodation and mass care centres.
The report states that the City has analysed high risk areas which require intervention and are marked by overcrowding. The report states that there are 280 000 people living in informal settlements, 9 500 living in transit camps and 20 000 residents located in CRU’s across the City. Furthermore, there are 9 000 families living in Council’s rental stock.
Phase one, which was conducted in March, saw hygienic material including soaps and sanitisers as well as educational pamphlets being distributed.
The second phase of the intervention will include the mass sanitisation of common areas, ablution facilities and within living spaces. Further hygiene material and educational campaigns will also be distributed.
The report notes that the provincial Department of Human Settlements in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture started the pilot project which included 22 informal settlements in eThekwini.
The City will enter into agreements to supply phase two interventions. EThekwini has 581 informal settlements, 11 CRU’s, 45 temporal residential accommodation, 9 000 Council stock and three mass care centres.
ENDS
Issued by the eThekwini Municipality’s Acting Head of Communications Mandla Nsele.
