The City of Johannesburg Council on Thursday, 30 July 2020, approved further rates relief measures that place more than R400 million back into the pockets of the City's property owners during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown.
The additional relief measures for rate payers in distress come after the City granted a reduction in proposed tariffs two weeks ago, which were respectively presented by the Johannesburg MMC for Finance, Cllr. Jolidee Matongo on behalf of the municipality's governing coalition parties – dubbed the government of local unity.
The recent relief includes the waiving of penalty interest charges on defaulting municipal accounts between April and June, together with the relaxation of credit control measures during the lockdown period. The relief is set to be automatically activated for residential properties. However, multipurpose residential, as well as business properties need to apply to qualify for the additional rates relief.
The recent relief measures were endorsed by all political parties represent in Council with some requests that staff capacity be beefed up in the City's customer centres to assist residents with relief applications.
MMC Matongo said the Finance Department welcomed the comments and input from the councillors and that efforts were already underway, including the introduction of region-based email addresses.
The City has also extended the Expanded Social Package (ESP) benefits period for existing beneficiaries to reduce the number of residents needing to visit our customer centres to renew their benefit period during the lockdown.
MMC Matongo said: “There is no need for ESP beneficiaries and residential property owners to visit the City's customer centres to apply or qualify for the additional rates relief as it will be automatically applied on their records and accounts, respectively. We, however, do appeal to ratepayers to continue paying for services to keep their accounts up to date, and those in financial distress to approach the City to enter into payment arrangements to avoid future penalties."
He added that the City has also considered business property owners in the additional relief by reducing the business rate ratio from 1:2.6 to 1:2.3.
“It is only the matter of salaries that we could not interfere with because it is a discussion for labour unions and SALGA [South African Local Government Association]," MMC Matongo said.
He further pointed out that the Johannesburg City Manager has since sent a message to staff on salary increases that will assist with keeping labour stability in the municipality during the Covid-19 lockdown period and beyond.
“We are already operating at limited capacity to ensure service delivery continues under the circumstances. The City and its residents cannot afford to have labour action that will interrupt service delivery during the Covid-19 lockdown," MMC Matongo said.
He called on residents to continue adhering to Covid-19 safety guidelines and to avoid visiting the City's customer centres for matters that can be resolved using online platforms that include telephone, emails, and social media.
Useful emails:
For the City's Credit Control Department: creditcontrol@joburg.org.za.
Region based emails with corresponding Customer Service Centres.
Municipal account holders can also register on the City's website to access various municipal services that include receiving their municipal statements online using the link: https://eservices.joburg.org.za/.
ENDS
CONTACTS:
Gosebo Mathope
MMC for Finance Media Liaison Officer
Cell: 063 336 6231
Or
Nthatisi Modingoane
City of Johannesburg Spokesman
Cell: 082 467 9228
