Money-grabbing municipality

The Witness: "Money-grabbing municipality"
THE arrogance of the Msunduzi Municipality knows no bounds. In March, objections to the upward revised second property valuation roll were lodged with no respons­e of any sort to date.

This week, the individual rate assessments were received for payment by Augu­st 31, showing increa­ses of 56% to 72%. This on top of electricity, water and refuse increases.

Where do our councillors think these amounts will be found while the country slides deeper into recession?

While even the central government is trimming its expenses, our municipality aims to double its revenue, presumably to enable even larger salaries to be paid to non-delivering employees.

The fourth Reich is alive and well in our home town.

TONY CHARLTON
Montrose, Pietermaritzburg

Comments:

Posted by Anonymous on 19 Aug 2009
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This entire municipality ought to be fired!! Just fire the lot of them!! They are a bunch of very sick individuals who voted to increase our rates and services bills by such a huge amount. I am a single woman and my monthly bill has been increased by nearly R700 - with the price of food and other essentials what they are today, how am I to survive?! Where do they think I can find an extra R700 every month??!!

Posted by Ant on 19 Aug 2009
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Money-grabbing municipality
Lets have a strike, it seems to be the only way to get the ANC's attention.
We don't have to march and destruct everything, just stop giving them our hard earned money until we get public 'servants' to run our town and get value for it.
We can talk and talk, this is known as trying and nothing ever comes from trying or we can do.

Posted by Ahmed A. Khan on 19 Aug 2009
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This municipality knows no bounds to where the rot ends. Tony is absolutely justifed with his commnets and it is time the ratepayers sued this municipality for wasteful expenditure as well as poor performance. Most ratepayers are reeling from the current increase in rates and to date there has not been a reciprocative increase in service delivery. So where is the justification.

Zero tolerance?

The Witness: "Zero tolerance?"
ON Thursday, July 30, I phoned the traffic department wanting to speak to Kenneth Chetty, but someone just put the phone down. Thirty minutes later, I phoned again and was told he was in a meeting and would get back to me.

By the end of the day, I had received no response.

Every morning at Kenilworth Road, law-abiding motorists are severely inconvenienced by inconsiderate taxis and other motorists who don’t bother to join the queue. They just cut across, drive on the oncoming side of the road, go to the front of the queue and dart across traffic coming from Northdale.

The traffic department has, on occasion, done a sting there. Then they disappeared and it all begins again. Then there was a South African Police Services officer who stopped and I think ticketed the transgressors, but he then disappeared too. Now the taxis are back making merry.

I am making an impassioned plea to the traffic department: please assist us law-abiding motorists.

Let’s act and save lives now. This is the province of zero tolerance and 100% compliance, but this is beingseverely compromised.

KRISHNAN NAIDOO
Belfort Estate, Pietermaritzburg