By Nangamso Mabindla
7 September 2004

BUFFALO City has exceeded its revenue collection targets for August by over R9-million, says the City's chief financial officer Brian Shepherd.

Last the year the City collected R134-million in August and increased this year's target by R9-million.

"But the actual collection for July and August this year was R152-million. This means that we're a whopping R9-million above our target and a further R18-million more than last year," said Shepherd.

Last year the municipality took the initiative to encourage its citizens to pay their accounts on time and stop a culture of non-payment by launching a "Pay 'n Win" campaign in October.

"The initiatives we took to encourage our people to pay their bills showed our commitment to having a good relationship with our customers. I would like to commend the finance team on this achievement," said Buffalo City mayor Sindisile Maclean.

The municipality also introduced the Credit Control Policy aimed at warning defaulters about penalties for non-payment and encouraging them to sort out queries through the City's finance customer care unit.

"All these initiatives were well received by our citizens and we are looking forward to more co-operation from the citizens of Buffalo City," Maclean added.

The City's revenue collection target for September is R95-million.