Support for poor people means big write-offs for Nelson Mandela Bay
NELSON Mandela Bay Municipality will write off about R500,000 in unpaid rates and services bills as it grapples with poverty‚ unemployment and a sluggish local economy.This big write-off covers just three months – May‚ June and July – and will benefit the poorest people who cannot afford electricity‚ water‚ sanitation and refuse charges, those who applied for debt relief and nonprofit organisations.In another setback for the metro‚ about R81m spent on building and rectifying houses may have to be written off after Bhisho refused to pay as the municipality did not provide documents needed to support the claims.READ THIS: SA’s metros on the hunt for new city managersA large chunk of the R470-million debt write-off – about R413-million – arises from the metro’s new policy on poverty with effect at the beginning of July.It is a lump-sum write-off for financial 2016-17, which the municipality believes residents would not have been able to pay anyway.The new policy saw 23 173 names added...
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