LETTER: Enforce payment for municipal services by those who benefit but don’t pay

Linda Ensor’s report on the SA Local Government Association’s warning that solar tax incentives will lead to a drop in municipal revenue refers (“Municipal revenue at risk if solar tax incentive takes off”, March 13).

So what? Should the people who pay the bills just be expected to keep on paying without receiving a service in return? Should people be punished for trying to keep the lights on? And should government just continually milk everyone for all they’re worth without providing the barest incentive to escape the torture of load-shedding?

If municipalities are so concerned about losing revenue they need to find another source. Perhaps they should stop relying on a handful of payers to prop up a huge institution, and start enforcing payment by those who benefit from the services but refuse to pay. Harsh, perhaps. But it’s only fair that these adults are pushed into finally growing up and paying for the services they use.

Above all that, the possibility of grid collapse and the continual breakdown of the grid necessitates people to go off grid. The petty greed, or just desperation, of municipalities is irrelevant. People need to be able to go off grid, and this needs to be made as easy and as cheap as possible to reduce strain on the grid.

Municipalities can whine all they want. They will be losing revenue as they become less relevant. And as they become less relevant we should care even less. It’s high time the private sector takes over more of these responsibilities anyway, so things can finally function.

Nicholas Woode-Smith
Cape Town

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