In a move likely to be viewed as electioneering, the City of Johannesburg plans to write off about R15-billion of its household debt, but residents will first have to agree to prepaid meters being installed in their homes.
In a written reply to the Municipal Public Accounts Committee (Mpac) during a meeting on March 4, the group finance department said that the "incentive" aimed to prevent future recurring debt.
"The city intends utilising the write-off as an incentive, where the debt will be written off on the agreement that a prepaid meter will be installed."
Group finance department spokesman Kgamanyane Maphologela said: "The City of Johannesburg currently doesn't have a debt write-off incentive policy. The city is in the process of reviewing its credit control, debt collection policy and the bylaws.
"This will ensure that the debt relating to the same consumers does not build, necessitating further write-offs in future years."
Trevor Ngwane, political officer with the Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee , dismissed the write-off plan as a political ploy that had been repeated many times.
"It's an old solution that will never work. The people amass debt and are unable to pay.
"The government sees and moves to scrap the debt. But we are only dealing with the symptoms of unemployment and poverty," he said.
Ngwane proposed increasing free basic services to the poor, unemployed and pensioners.
Johannesburg is owed R17.4-billion; Ekurhuleni R10.7-billion and Tshwane R6.6-billion.