Sheraton, Prasa switched back on as debt collection blitz jolts Tshwane

The Sheraton Hotel and the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) were reconnected to municipal services on Thursday after reaching a settlement and paying R16m towards debt owed to the city of Tshwane.

Mayor Randall Williams and MMC for roads and transport Dikeledi Selowa, joined by officials from the city, are forging ahead with their #Tshwaneyatima campaign. They said they had given Prasa the chop over debt of R28m.

After being disconnected on February 9 for owing the city more than R23m, the Sheraton hotel submitted an urgent application to the high court to halt the city's disconnection but was unsuccessful.

City officials reconnected services on Thursday, confirming the parties had reached a settlement.

While services were cut off, some guests opted to leave the hotel, reported the Sunday Times.

Williams on Thursday said they were working through a list of 70,000 out of 900,000 accounts and to date had recovered almost R500m.

Prasa made a prompt payment of R16,114,860 and was switched back on after being disconnected on Thursday. Prasa owed R28m for properties around the city.

Prasa spokesperson Andiswa Makanda acknowledged that Prasa owed the city. “We do owe a significant [sum] to the city. We were entering into some negotiations, there were things that we needed clarity on so in that process unfortunately we got our electricity disconnected.

“It accumulated over a while, it's about stations around Tshwane. We are looking at about 30 stations that we owe electricity for and it has compounded over months. We were entering negotiations to see if there was a payment arrangement we could enter into.”

On Wednesday Johannesburg mayor Mpho Phalatse said residents, businesses, and government departments owed the city about R38bn in unpaid municipal rates, taxes and levies — more than half of the 2021/22 budget of over R73bn.

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