In what can only be described as a victory for account holders who found it difficult to defray outstanding municipal debt, the eThekwini Debt relief program was extended for another three months till the end of December 2024.
In a turnaround decision, the ANC (and associates) supported an earlier recommendation by the DA to not only extend the program by three instead of two months, but also to institute specific dispute resolution procedures to address certain challenges.
This decision will afford account holders opportunity to challenge the debt accumulated irregularly or as a result of miscalculation prior reaching an agreement on the amount that has to be subjected to the Debt relief program.
The DA was of the opinion that the “pay now and resolve disputes later” approach served little to no purpose of addressing issues where debt was irregularly incurred or calculated.
What sets the present program apart from the normal debt relief policy, is that it allows for a 5% deposit against outstanding debt for residential households with the remainder being defrayed interest free over a period of 36 months. This as opposed to the normal 25 % deposit
In the case of business accounts in arrears, the deposit is 10% with the same term period.
Arrears will be collected along with current usage and account holders are urged to honour the term agreements, as failure will result in interest being lumped back onto the account with subsequent disconnections.
Further detail can be obtained from local Sizakala Centres starting today, 1 October until 31 December 2024.
Both the IFP & EFF abstained from supporting the initiative.