OFM News previously reported that the metro requested all residents and businesses who had made payments into the municipal account during this stated period via internet banking - and without using their account numbers that start with the number 100 as a reference - should come forward with proof of payment before 30 June 2019. Should these affected payees not do so by the stated date, these monies will be paid over to the metro’s general revenue account.  

Speaking to OFM News on Tuesday morning, Britz, who is a member of the municipal council for the Democratic Alliance in the region, said it would have been better if the municipality had attended to these unallocated payments earlier.

“It would have been good practice on the part of the municipality to send out the notice after the financial years of the stated period. But they haven’t done it and I think the auditors are querying them now. The point is, it should have been done sooner and because of that, the people may not be able to prove that they had (previously) made these payments),” Britz said.

Britz, who also used to be the municipality’s Chief Financial Officer for several years, also explained that while it was imprudent of the municipality to issue the notice so many years after the payments were made, it was not in violation of the Municipal Financial Management Act in any way. “It would be good practice to have done this directly after the financial year but they didn’t and now I suspect that the Auditor General is querying them on the matter, hence they issued the notice now only, “ Britz said.  

Explaining how this incident may have happened, Britz said that when the municipality noticed that it had amounts that were paid over into its account that it could not allocate, it then transferred them to the Suspense Account and probably now needs to clear that account. "What they will now do (after finding the payees) is they will just debit the Suspense Account and credit the payee’s account, which will square both the municipality’s account as well as the payee’s account,” he adds.

He also stated that should these payees not come forward, it is possible that they will lose the monies they paid over. He, therefore, urges all those who may have paid their accounts during the stated period to both check that their monthly accounts are decreasing, and if they are not, contact the municipality as soon as possible as this is indicative of a problem somewhere in the accounting system.  Meanwhile, the EFF's Baba Sebolao, who is also a municipal councillor in the region said he would not be able to comment on the matter as he is unaware of it. 

OFM News had previously contacted the municipal spokesperson, Qondile Khedama, on the matter. He requested the questions to be sent to his email address on Thursday, however, since then, he has not yet responded.

OFM News