More Covid-19 relief for Joburg property owners
Member of Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Finance in the City of Johannesburg, Councillor Jolidee Matongo, says he has approved additional Covid-19 rates relief for distressed residents.
The city believes the further approved rates relief measures will put more than R400 million back into the pockets of Johannesburg property owners.
"The additional relief measures for ratepayers in distress comes after the City granted a reduction in proposed tariffs two weeks ago.
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," says Matongo.
He says the relief is set to be automatically activated for residential properties.
However, multipurpose residential and owners of business properties need to apply to qualify for the additional rates relief.
“There is no need for ESP beneficiaries and residential property owners to visit the City’s customer centres to qualify for the additional relief as it will be automatically applied on their record 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.”
Matongo adds that the decision was fully supported by all parties represented in Council.
"The recent relief measures were endorsed by all political parties represented in the Council with some requests that staff capacity be beefed up in the City’s customer centres to assist residents with relief applications," says Matongo.
LISTEN TO MATONGO HERE:
He added that the matter of salaries was however, not discussed and the City Manager has since sent a message to staff regarding salary increases that will assist with keeping labour stability in the municipality during the Covid-19 lockdown period and beyond.
“We are already operating with 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,” concludes Matongo.
