RESIDENTS, Firms 'OWE Councils R49BN'!

GAUTENG municipalities are owed approximately R49 billion by residents and commercial customers, Finance MEC Barbara Creecy said on Sunday.

A household debt of R31.8bn, for services and taxes by residents, was the largest amount outstanding.

"This amount represents 65% or the largest share of debt due to municipalities for services in the province," Creecy said.

Commercial customers owed R13.5bn – approximately 27% of the debt. Government debtors accounted for 3% of the total outstanding amount. Creecy said that the debt for water (R14.6bn) accounted for nearly a third of the amount still owing.Property rates and electricity debtors owed 19% (R9.1bn) and 18% (R8.8bn) respectively.

Among the reasons cited for the debt were: disputes over the ownership of properties liable for municipal accounts; incorrect billing; the slow process of opening new municipal accounts; and the transfer and registration of RDP houses.

Furthermore, Creecy said, certain municipalities submitted their invoices late and others failed to split monthly accounts according to services and property rates.