Good news for Jozi property owners as city doles out rates relief

Johannesburg has taken another step towards alleviating pressure on the city's property owners who have been hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

After announcing a reduction in tariffs two weeks ago, the municipality on Friday said it was now waiving penalty interest charges for defaulting accounts.

“The recent relief includes the waiving of penalty interest charges on defaulting municipal accounts between April and June, together with the relaxation of credit control measures during the lockdown.

“The relief is set to be automatically activated for residential properties. However, multipurpose residential and business properties need to apply to qualify for the additional rates relief,” the city said.

The latest measure could see the city’s homeowners saving about R400,000.

The MMC for finance, Jolidee Matongo, said the recent relief measures were endorsed by all political parties represented in the council.

The city was also exploring how it could help business property owners.

Matongo said council was considering reducing business rates.

“We, however, do appeal to ratepayers to continue paying for services to keep their accounts up to date, and those in financial distress to approach the city to enter into payment arrangements to avoid future penalties,” he said.

Matongo called on residents to continue adhering to Covid-19 safety guidelines and to avoid visiting the customer centres for matters that can be resolved using online platforms that include telephone, e-mails and social media.

TimesLIVE