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The City of Johannesburg has moved to disconnect services to the head office of the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) in the inner city due to non-payment for municipal services yesterday, 14 February 2019.
The City’s records show that SAMWU was issued with a pre-termination notice in December 2018, which was ignored. SAMWU owes the City a total of about R1.2 million for Electricity, Water, Sewer, Rates and Refuse. Yesterday, their electricity connection was disconnected.
Payment for Municipal Services by all of the City’s customers is essential in ensuring the sustainability of services to all our residents. SAMWU is the most prominent local government trade union in South Africa, a key City stakeholder and is also a prominent leader in our country. It is therefore critical that it sets the right example and partner with the City to ensure sustainable service delivery and financial sustainability of the municipality.
By not paying for municipal services, it ultimately disadvantages the same workers it aims to represent. This also reduces the City’s ability to draw revenue which can be used to deliver quality services to households across the City.
The City is faced with great challenges, including a R170 billion infrastructure backlog, a housing backlog of 300 000 units and over 900 000 of our people are unemployed. Service delivery issues that plague our communities arise from these institutional backlogs, and prioritisation of spend in these areas will continue to campaign to improve the lives of our residents.
We therefore cannot afford to lose a single cent that would have been allocated to delivering change to our residents. We urge SAMWU and other organisations to carefully manage their municipal accounts and ensure up to date payment of services.
For media queries:
Kutlwano Olifant
Stakeholder Manager: Office of the MMC for Finance
kutlwanoo@joburg.org.za
081 434 7417
