Residents at Aloe Ridge in Westgate, Acacia Park in Oribi Road, and Signal Hill in Nienabar Road protested over the weekend after their water and electricity was disconnected due to unpaid municipal debt by their landlord Capital City Housing (CCH).
CCH allegedly owes Msunduzi Municipality R41,9 million, but in its response to The Witness, CCH claims it is under business rescue and its legal team was “in talks” with the municipality.
CCH has been in business rescue therefore all legal matters are headed and managed by the business rescue practitioner. The legal team is in talks with the municipality.
Msunduzi Deputy Mayor Mxolisi Mkhize said the mass disconnections was not targeted at the tenants but to the non-paying landlord, but residents demanded their services be reconnected as they were not at fault.
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Public Order Police units had to be called in on Saturday after residents took to the streets in protest.
Pietermaritzburg police spokesperson Sergeant Sifiso Gwala said there were no injuries or damages during the protest which came to an end at the intervention of Deputy Mayor Mkhize.
Speaking to The Witness on Sunday, Msunduzi Deputy Mayor Mkhize said while the residents have pre-paid water and electricity meters installed and their rent was paid to CCH, the landlords were not paying the city for municipal rates and services.
The residents, who asked not to be named in fear of reprisals from the landlord, said it was not immediately clear to them that receiving water and electricity depended on the landlord paying its dues to the municipality.
“It made no sense for the city to cut us off, but as the deputy mayor explained, it would seem the landlord has not paid municipal bills. The landlord has not come to address us on this when it happened on Thursday. We were in the dark and our taps were dry for two days with no sign of the landlord to resolve the matter,” said one resident.
Another one said the landlord’s reluctance to meet with the people and the municipality left much to be desired.
“How can they not come and address us if they have done nothing wrong? Our water and electricity are prepaid and we pay rent to the landlord. They must be held accountable for whatever monies are owed to the municipality,” she said.
Mkhize confirmed the difficulty in bringing CCH to the table to negotiate payment. Mkhize said realising that the tenants’ health was at risk, the city held a meeting and resolved to apply a controlled relief for the people.
What is sad here is that we have a contractual obligation with the CCH as the landlord, and not with the people. The agreement says we provide water and electricity bulk supply and it’s up to the landlord how to distribute those services to the tenants. It is sad that these people got caught in the middle of this and unfortunately, even the landlord is not willing to talk to us.
“They are ignoring our requests for meetings,” he said.
According to the city, Aloe Ridge owes R33 million, Signal Hill R5 million and Acacia Park owes R3,9 million.
“Despite extensive dialogues involving various stakeholders, including Capital City, efforts to secure payment have not yielded results,” the city spokesperson Ntobeko Mkhize said.
The Social Housing Regulatory Authority (SHRA) said it would consult with all the stakeholders before commenting on the matter.
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Marketing and communications manager Lesego Diale said social housing, implemented by SHRA, was a critical component of the country’s efforts to address the housing needs of low-to-middle-income households.
She said as a nation with a past of inequality, providing affordable housing solutions was essential for promoting social and economic inclusion.
