The Lotus Gardens, Atteridgeville, and Saulsville Civic Association (Lasca) has vowed to boycott the City of Tshwane's outreach programmes, refusing to participate until their grievances about the Metro’s debt-relief incentive scheme are addressed.

The civic group is unhappy that the debt relief scheme, adopted by the council in February, has not led to the cancellation of outstanding municipal bills for many indigent households.

The civic group's ultimatum comes at a critical juncture as the municipality is gearing up to launch a public participation process to gather residents' input on the proposed budget and integrated development plan for the 2025/2026 financial year.

Organisation leader, Tshepo Mahlangu, said the decision to boycott the City's outreach programmes was made after a recent community meeting where residents explicitly instructed Lasca to defy any city outreach initiatives until their debts are waived.

The residents are calling for an unconditional debt write-off, rejecting the city's current debt relief programme due to its attached conditions.

Mahlangu said: “The residents further requested Lasca to organise a march to Tshwane House building since the executive lied to them during (the recent) mayoral imbizo held in Atteridgeville. They demand to meet the Mayor during the planned mass march.”

He further said residents were up in arms, demanding the abolition of consulting firms they hold responsible for inaccurate municipal bill estimates.

The latest turn of events follows Lasca's initial welcome of the debt-relief scheme in February, which promised to write off up to R10 billion in municipal debt.

At the time Mahlangu expressed relief, saying: “I am very excited today. This is the government that works for the residents of Tshwane, the capital city. The debt-relief has been approved. But my task with you (residents) is that you do not consume and not pay. If your debt has been wiped, make sure that you consume responsibly because we are going to embark on a civil education starting March this year. This culture of non-payment is over.”

The City's outstanding debts total a significant amount, with residential customers accounting for R15.833bn and business customers owing R6.746bn.

Part of the report read: “Analysis of the proposal for residential accounts as of 30 November 2024 indicates that should customers take-up the offer an amount of R1,765bn will be for immediate collection and R4,220bn will be subject to deferred collection. The debt-relief component amounts to R9,847bn constituting 70% of the total debt.”

The report outlines that customers wanting to take advantage of the debt-relief programmes are required to settle in full any debt incurred over the past 12 months, among other conditions.

Deputy Executive Mayor and MMC for Finance Eugene Modise, previously rejected the proposal to use a blanket approach in debt cancellation, saying it “is not feasible”.

He announced recently that the city has extended the initial March 31 deadline for debt-relief scheme to May 31 in response to requests from residents and businesses seeking more time to take advantage of the offer.

This comes after the municipality made progress in reducing its debtors’ book from almost R30bn to R25,69bn since implementing the debt relief programme.

“This extension will go a long way to alleviating the financial pressures on hard-pressed households and businesses across Tshwane. In doing so, this will also greatly assist the City to meet its debt obligations and put the City on better financial footing,” Modise said.

rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za