Cape Town’s residents owe the city R9.887bn in unpaid rates and services bills, says a Cape Argus report. The city’s Finance Directorate sent a report to the Finance Portfolio Committee that it was owed R7.846bn by households and a further R1.513bn by businesses, with other outstanding debt totalling nearly R500m.

‘The water crisis had a huge impact on the collection ratio and the city’s debt, which increased significantly since the punitive tariffs were implemented,’ the report read.

The department reported that it could not yet write off the R1.466bn owed the city by indigent households (with household incomes of below R4 000 per month) because the Department of Water & Sanitation had not yet repaired water leaks, nor installed water management devices or prepaid electricity meters.

There was an amount of R7.145bn in arrears owed to the city as at the end of January this year, which was more than R295m higher than in December 2018, due to an increase in debt owed over 120 days or more.

There was also an amount of R330m in irrecoverable debt owed by indigent properties, which had also not yet been written off for the July 2018-January 2019 review period.

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