Windhoek pensioners in line for 100% municipal debt write-off

The City of Windhoek will write off 100% of both the capital and interest on debts owed by pensioners that register with the municipality, provided they currently have or agree to prepaid water and electricity meters being installed at their homes.

The debt write-off will also only cover debts and interests accrued until 30 November this year.

Any debts after that date must be paid in full to qualify for the debt write-off.

City spokesperson Lydia Amutenya confirmed this yesterday, saying the new debt write-off programme as it relates to pensioners would not cover interest only.

The council will announce the registration dates, processes and procedures for the programme in early 2024.

Amutenya said since writing off debts is not a sustainable undertaking for the council, the prepaid systems would prevent residents from finding themselves in more debt..

“The installation of prepaid services condition is critical to ensure sustainable future debt management, so that they don’t find themselves in a situation where they have accumulated debts they cannot settle,” she said.

Furthermore, businesses, residential and other debtors will get a 50% cancellation of interest if they pay the outstanding principal amount within six to 12 months.

This comes after the Katutura Residents’ Committee on Wednesday said the city had announced debt write-offs while still negotiating with them.

Soweto community leader and committee member Patrick Eiseb on Wednesday said: “It is unfair that the City of Windhoek is treating us this way.

“I believe that if you are in an engagement with someone, you don’t pronounce yourself while the activists are still not done. This is because there are two parties involved, the City of Windhoek and the Committee of Residents in Katutura.

“We started this story early this year, by now there should have been an answer. But what the city has done is to show us in our faces that they don’t care.”

Eiseb was speaking at a media conference at Jacob Marengo Secondary School.

Amutenya denounced allegations that the debt write-off scheme was initiated through a negotiation process with the residents’ committee.

“The City of Windhoek’s plan to write off debts has been in motion for more than a year now – even before the Katutura committee approached the city with their request. It is therefore incorrect to claim that the debt write-off announcement has been done while the two parties are still negotiating,” she said.

The council last wrote off debt for pensioners and vulnerable residents in 2018 to the tune of N$191 million.

The chairperson of the Katutura Residents Committee, Benestus Kandundu, announced that the committee would stage a protest at Zoo Park in Windhoek today.

“We are demanding the removal of RedForce Debt Management as the city’s debt-collecting agency.

“We also want the city to reorganise its debt system and demand a complete new mode of operation in regards to debt collection once such a platform is realised,” Kandundu said.

The National Assembly has confirmed that it would receive the petition today.

Amutenya said the city’s position on RedForce is determined by the contract between the two parties.

“The city has a contractual obligation with RedForce, and this commitment stands as long as the contract is in effect.”

Another committee member, Simon Muhongi, said the slow progress to come up with a reasonable solution for water and electricity woes have begun to threaten the livelihoods of residents.

“If you imagine a person without water, it’s very dangerous. As the saying goes: Water is life. Now our people who are vendors and kapana sellers do not even have water to ensure that their goods are clean for customers. This limits their business,” he said.

The committee is composed of community leaders from Soweto, Dolam, the Herero location, Golgotha, Single Quarters, Wanaheda and other locations at Katutura.

It will hand over a petition regarding the writing off of debts, the introduction of a prepaid electricity and water meter system, and the removal of RedForce as a debt collector to the National Assembly.