The City of Tshwane on Tuesday said it has disconnected water and electricity supplies to the South African Revenue Service (SARS) office in Ashlea Gardens, Pretoria, over outstanding bills.
Embarking on its aggressive revenue collections, the City of Tshwane also disconnected water and electricity to the Gautrain Hatfield station, which it said owes about R10 million.
Both SARS and the Gautrain management are disputing the City of Tshwane’s assertion that services were cut off because of outstanding bills.
The City of Tshwane said it has noted a concerning trend of non-payment due to disputes being lodged regarding certain services on municipal accounts
“We would like to make it clear that a dispute on a service line, such as electricity, does not exempt customers from paying for other municipal services, such as water, sanitation, and waste services,” said the City.
Commenting on the matter SARS said: “We wish to put it on record that the building occupied by the organisation does not belong to SARS.
“It is a leased property, and to date, all services have been paid for, in full and on time. We sincerely apologise to taxpayers for the inconvenience that this may have caused.
“We will engage with the owners of the property, with the view to have this matter attended to as a matter of urgency.”
SARS said in the meantime, the office is using a generator and remains operational. Services are continuing uninterrupted.
Gautrain management said: “Hatfield Station has a pre-paid meter and the account is not only up to date but in credit to the value of approx R120 000.”
Management has demanded that the City of Tshwane reconnect the electricity and water because all the accounts are up to date.
The City of Tshwane, which is trying to recover about R17 billion it is owed in unpaid bills, encouraged all its clients to pay their accounts to avoid service interruptions.
