The municipality has implemented its Credit Control and Debt Collection policy (Credit Control policy) on the municipal accounts registered as deceased estate as they ran into arrears. The Credit Control Policy defines the person who administers the deceased estate’s affairs as the owner and only that person may
- enter into arrangements to pay off arrear debt on behalf of the deceased owner
- apply for Indigent assistance.
- granting of permission to tenants to apply for Indigent assistance.
It has been found that in many instances the estate is not registered and there is no Executor’s letter as issued by the Master of the Court. This is exacerbated due to the fact that no last will or testament is left behind for many of the deceased.
During the recent Indigent application drives, many applicants were rejected as they were living in properties owned by deceased people and no letter of authority could be provided. As a consequence, the municipality is facing a rising debtors book on deceased account holders while occupants are enjoying municipal services without payment. The occupiers who are then indigent are not enjoying the benefits of the indigent assistance and the debtors book increases further with debt that should be recovered from the equitable share grant.
The Council has resolved to assist these households by writing off the arrear debt on these deceased accounts and bring relief to households in our area. Households must apply for the arrear debt write-off of the deceased estate and provide the following:
- The death certificates of the deceased owners (or an affidavit of the details of the death where no death certificate is available); and
- An affidavit of the person living in the house that they have permission to occupy the premises and will be responsible for a tenant account of municipal services on the property going forward.
Applications can be made at the municipal offices in each town from 14 April 2025. For any queries, the office of the Manager: Revenue (Ms Shariefa Daniels) may be contacted at (028) 713 8009 or Shariefa@hessequa.gov.za.
