By Nangamso Mabindla

Although Buffalo City would support residents on the financial breadline, Executive Mayor Sindisile Maclean yesterday said the campaign to clamp down on defaulters who did not pay for municipal services had his full backing.

This week municipal account holders in arrears were given an ultimatum to pay up or face services being cut off over Christmas. The campaign "Pay now - it is the bright thing to do" was launched with the municipality being owed R370-million by service payment defaulters, which included domestic, business and government users.

The mayor said it was sad "it had come down to the municipality taking harsh measures" but he could not condone non-payment by people who put their municipal bills low on their list of priorities. "These people have the money to pay their bills but choose to take us for granted. We need to take action and if it means cutting off electricity for December, so be it."

Buffalo City Chief Financial Officer, Brian Shepherd, earlier this week noted that the defaulter profile showed it was not the poor disrupting the municipality's cash flow: "Business - commercial and industrial - owed us R52 428 871 as of 19 November 2003."

Said Maclean: "I don't believe businesses should owe the municipality some R52-million. I also don't believe that people who can afford to pay should not face up to their responsibility. We are in desperate need of money to run the city."

The clampdown was not to be confused with an attack on "poor, unfortunate" people, the mayor added.

Many indigent families forgot they had to register for service grants every year, the mayor said, urging them to take registering seriously. "These families should register and receive the R120 monthly support we give to indigent people through funds we receive through the Equitable Share programme."

In addition, for indigent residents, the programme of supplying such families with 50kw/h of free electricity and 6kl/month of free water would continue.

The municipality would be running adverts in the local newspaper and posting flyers to warn customers of the "dark" days ahead if people did not pay up, the mayor said. "Pay now people, it really is the bright thing to do," he added.