Tshwane is to write off R1-billion of interest owed on ratepayers' debt. The decision was taken at a council meeting in Pretoria yesterday following a heated debate between the ANC and the DA on the effectiveness of the strategy.The ruling party argued that economic conditions necessitated relief for ratepayers. It said cutting the interest would give them room to settle their debt.The R1-billion in interest is part of the city's debtors book, which stands at R7-billion.Tshwane will also write off debt of R592-million from 2005 .ANC councillor Masindi Morudu said writing off the interest debt was being done to help the poor."The interest increases the debt burden on consumers and they end up unable to pay. What would we prefer? Is it a growing debtors book or residents being able to service their municipal accounts while simultaneously increasing the city's revenue?"We cannot attribute the growing debtors book to the customers' unwillingness to pay for services. On the contrary, from our public meeting we discover that many of our community members are honest citizens, willing to do the right thing and pay for services," Morudu said.DA councillor Mare-Lise Fourie said this approach had not been effective in the past ."Each and every time it was implied that this initiative will encourage payment patterns going forward. But tragically, notwithstanding these efforts, the outstanding debtors have continued to rise at an alarming pace."The simple fact is that if you do not have a co-ordinated plan to address non-payment that is purpose-driven and managed effectively you will not succeed in achieving the desired outcome," said Fourie.While the DA endorsed the move, it proposed that there be some amendments.One was that the city prepares a monthly report until the end of the 2015/16 financial year indicating:The debt collected as a result of offering debtors this incentive;The amount of interest written off as a consequence; andThe monthly reports be submitted to an oversight committee for monitoring .ANC councillors rejected these proposals ...