The City of Tshwane logo. Picture: File
The City of Tshwane has has hit back at the “reckless and irresponsible utterances made by the so-called Lotus Gardens, Atteridgeville and Saulsville Civic Association (Lasca) leader Tshepo Mahlangu in which he called for his ”disciples“ to boycott the payment of municipal services.
It said Mahlangu had been on a crusade for a prolonged period calling for members of his organisation to consume municipal services such as water and electricity and not pay for it.
“In his spare time, Mahlangu records voice notes which he shares on social media and hops from one radio station to another to spew tirades at the city administration and advocate for lawlessness,” the City said in a statement.
“The city has taken a principled position to not dignify his attention-seeking exercise with a response, but to simply note his utterances.”
In the statement, the City said it was important to share this very important perspective with the residents lest they get hoodwinked by falsehoods.
“Lasca has been actively preventing and harassing city officials from reading meters in areas where they purport to be representing residents.
“Meter readers have been unable to access some properties for meter-reading purposes, and those households ended up being estimated.
“The City has been working hard to ensure that billings are accurate, and for that to happen, electricity and water meters have to be read regularly to capture actual and not estimated readings.”
Furthermore, Tshwane said as caring government, it had been and continued to cushion the indigent and poor with a bouquet of free services which are above the national standard.
“All residents and customers must pay for the municipal services they consume, and the city has enforced credit control measures, which are provided for in law, in a bid to recoup the more than R22 billion it is owed,” the City concluded.
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