Nivashni Nair|Published
“I’m dying each month.”
Those words illustrated the anguish of Tony Baboolal, an 84-year-old Everest Heights pensioner, who broke down while describing his decades-long fight over a municipal debt that has grown from about R9000 in the late nineties to about R245000.
Baboolal said he paid R1000 a month towards the debt for years, but could never get a satisfactory explanation for how the amount continued to increase.
He estimates that he has spent more than R300 000 on the debt and legal costs over the years.
Now expected to pay over R6700 a month, Baboolal fears he may never settle the debt in his lifetime.
“I don’t want to lose my house. My widowed daughter lives here. Where will she go?” he asked, struggling to hold back tears.
The dispute began around 1998 when Baboolal was told he owed about R9000 to the then local town board. His account was subsequently handed over to several attorneys and debt-collection agencies.
He agreed to pay R5000 in cash, followed by monthly instalments of R1000.
“I continued paying the instalments for years, in addition to my ordinary municipal utility bills, while the amount continued growing,” he told POST.
Frustrated by the lack of clarity, Baboolal eventually instructed an attorney to challenge the debt and stopped making the separate R1000 payments.
He took the matter to court on several occasions, hoping to get answers about the amount he was being asked to pay.
“I kept asking these attorneys, whoever handled this case, to send me a breakdown on how they came to this figure and I was eventually told to make an arrangement with the municipality,” he said.
The dispute took a further toll when, according to Baboolal, municipal officials arrived at his home and disconnected his electricity. He said he could not bear the prospect of living without electricity and felt compelled to make another payment arrangement.
The financial pressure has since forced him to sell his car.
“I can’t afford it. I worked long hours to earn enough to build a home for my family. I always kept myself fit, and I did hard work, driving tankers to Zimbabwe, day and night, to make my money to build this house. It was my dream,” he said.
When asked whether he believed he could settle the debt in his lifetime, Baboolal was uncertain.
“I don’t know,” he said.
eThekwini Municipality failed to answer specific questions on Baboolal’s matter.
Instead, municipal spokesman Senzelwe Mzila said there was no general billing system issue within the municipality.
“Municipal accounts are based on individual customer consumption, property valuation and applicable tariffs and charges. The city does not discuss individual customer account details with third parties due to customer confidentiality requirements.”
“Customers who have concerns regarding their municipal accounts are encouraged to approach the city’s Revenue Services Directorate or their nearest Sizakala Centre for their accounts to be reviewed. Customers are advised to bring their municipal account and any relevant supporting documentation to assist officials in investigating and resolving their queries,” he explained.
He said in cases where customers believed that their accounts were incorrect, matters were assessed on an individual account basis to determine the cause of the charges and whether any corrective action was required.
“The city encourages customers who have not received assistance through the initial channels to request that their query be formally logged and escalated through the appropriate Revenue Services complaints and query-resolution processes,” added Mzila.
Asad Gaffar of the eThekwini Ratepayers' Protest Movement (ERPM) said thousands of residents were in a similar situation.
“There isn't a policy in this municipality to deal with issues of this nature. The parties in council have not been addressing this in council and as a result this is what we see.”
“Also the customer centres employees are not equipped to help or deal with this issue. It is also the reason why the municipal debt is so high. Many of these residents cannot read or understand their bill and this also leads to an increase in the debt. Payment plans are not designed to assist individuals like this,” he explained.