A Wynberg pensioner who renewed her indigent support in May still faces escalating municipal bills. This comes despite officials telling her the City approved her application in September.

The pensioner submitted her renewal application on 30 May. She asked to be identified only as ‘a confused indigent applicant. The General Valuation 2025 had just taken effect. She followed up on 10 July. The City confirmed it had logged her application on its system.

In July she received a rates account and paid it. Officials at the Plumstead walk-in centre had told her not to. Her August–September account then nearly doubled. She returned to query it. Officials again told her not to pay. They said the City would backdate her account.

Approval without relief

Officials told her the City approved her renewal on 2 September. She expected relief. Instead, her September–October account doubled again.

“I cannot understand that having applied in May and having been approved on 2 September why the escalating accounts,” she said. “It almost seems that despite telling us not to pay, the activation of some approvals gets withheld until we pay.”

Same branch, same policy, different outcomes

She described several other pensioners at the same Plumstead branch. They experienced wildly different outcomes under the same policy. One applicant who paid all accounts while waiting suddenly received a zero account. Another applicant, who also received approval, got a September–October account of R13 000. An 80-year-old who applied about three weeks ago already received an approval email. The email showed the City had backdated her benefits to July. Another applicant who applied in July has received no accounts at all.

“Same branch, same policy, but different outcomes,” she said.

She approached the Ward 63 office. Staff there confirmed her approval. They said the City would backdate her accounts.

Water and electricity notices

While she waited for her billing to adjust, she received a water usage warning. The City stated her property had exceeded 15 000 litres per month for two consecutive months. She said she uses grey water. She estimates her actual usage at 3 to 4 kilolitres per month.

She also received an electricity tariff notice. It said the City would change her Lifeline 2 tariff to Domestic by Wednesday 30 September. The notice cited a property value increase following the General Valuation.

However, the City’s own tariff guidance tells a different story. It states that indigent and qualifying pensioner households with approval do not need to meet the property-value test. That test triggers a Lifeline-to-Domestic change.

“Applying has caused more grief than relief,” she said.

What the City says

The City has previously said the new General Valuation took effect on 1 July. This required all existing indigent and pensioner beneficiaries to renew. It said the City would backdate renewal benefits to 1 July 2026 for applications it received before 1 July. The City would do this through a credit adjustment on a later account. The City also said it would charge applicants in full until it processed their approval.

The City said it is processing high volumes of applications. It has encouraged residents to apply for indigent support before the relevant deadlines. The City has extended the pensioner rates relief deadline to 30 November. The indigent support deadline for post-1 July applications is 30 December.

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