It’s time to shock arrears shirkers

THE metro’s woeful debt collection past has now caught up with it and we are no longer talking millions – we’ve breasted the crest of a R1-billion debt mountain, happily accrued by a horde of freeloaders, assisted by years of dithering by indecisive councillors.

How much of this money will ever be recovered is anyone’s guess, but the council may make a start by clearing from the books the indigent who have no hope of paying, and placing greater focus on those who can pay but won’t.

The metro’s total service arrears now totals almost half of what is owed to the many municipalities throughout the vast Eastern Cape.

The R1-billion mark was reached at the end of September, which saw it take a significant R23-million hop from August.

Councillors are placing their hopes of reeling in this rampant monster on a new by-law which has been promulgated, which will permit measures such as water restrictions and disconnections. Whichever way one looks at it it’s going to be a long haul.

We believe that the sort of control the council seeks over consumers in the future may be provided by a new automatic meter reading system for electricity and water which is being tested in strategic areas.

The AMR will give consumers accurate billing and help the municipality detect interference such as tampering and bypassing. It will also place more control in the municipality’s hands, which will allow it to ration supplies to non-payers without having to cut them off.

At the end of the day though, the greatest tool the municipality has is the power to disconnect shirkers who do not pay. Let us shock them into a response.

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Beach crackdown good for tourism

IT is good to see the council reaffirm its resolve to curb boozing along the beachfront. We have always said that there is a place for those who want to party it up, but it should not be at a public amenity where families and visitors go for healthy enjoyment.

For the past two seasons schoolchildren have descended on the beachfront en masse for the specific purpose of undisciplined revelry, resulting in hooliganism, stabbings, rape and damage to property. They must be made to realise that such behaviour will not be tolerated. Nor should those who swill their liquor in cars parked on the beachfront, with radios blaring, be tolerated.

They are a menace to traffic and others who seek healthy enjoyment.

The crackdown on beach behaviour will include ridding our golden mile of loiterers, vagrants and beggars.

If we are to become a world-class holiday destination, which must be our goal, then it is important to enforce such disciplines.

While acting on these by-laws is a good thing, the concern about ongoing crime remains an unresolved issue. There are surveillance cameras along the beach- front and volunteer security personnel, but as we suggested the other day, unless there is proper visible policing, the problems will continue. The council must take its first steps, however tentative, in addressing the unavoidable need for a metro police force.