Pretoria - The City of Tshwane is continuing its campaign to roll out prepaid meters to make it easier for people to manage their spending, and eradicate the culture of non-payment.
MMC for Utility Services and Regional Operations Daryl Johnston told Pretoria News that the campaign would be a positive contribution to the City's efforts to collect needed revenue.
It will also boost the #TshwaneYaTima campaign to recoup R17 billion in unpaid municipal bills.
“Unfortunately, we are not a bank. We do not have sums of money sitting around somewhere. You can ask the MMC for Finance, Peter Sutton, and he will tell you that we depend on revenue collection.
“This roll-out campaign will assist us to deal with the issue of defaulters and make corrections, and then assist those customers who have actually gone out of their way to request prepaid meters.
“Those are the customers who applied for prepaid meters. We have identified them and we are ensuring that their requests are being attended to. We do not have a backlog as far as that is concerned.”
Johnston said that when he was appointed as MMC for Utility Services and Regional Operations, he paused the roll-out of meters as a corrective measure. He pointed out that he wanted to improve communication on the roll out so that people were made aware of the programme.
He also wanted to ensure that contractors of the City and their staff were properly trained, not just in the technical know-how, but in administrative processes and communications.
He said the communication was now on point, and notices were being sent in advance and appointments to replace meters with prepaid meters were being reserved accordingly, and customers were properly informed about how the payment would work.
This assists customers to also understand how the money they spent to pay for electricity would be divided to also cover their debts to the City, while giving them units to use in real time.
Last year, the City said the roll out was 70% complete. It is hoped that the more people and businesses use prepaid meters, the better the City would be placed financially.
Pretoria News